Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem

i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat, or light. Pollutants, the elements of pollution, can be foreign substances or energies, or naturally occurring; when naturally occurring, they are considered contaminants when they exceed natural levels. Pollution is often classed as point source or nonpoint source pollution. The Blacksmith Institute issues an annual list of the world's worst polluted places. In the 2007 issues the ten top nominees are located in Azerbaijan, China, India,Peru, Russia, Ukraine, and Zambia. Different Kinds Of Pollution Air Pollution A disturbance in the composition of the compounds which make up the atmosphere is called air pollution. The imbalance can occur due to the excessive emission of gases or vapors into the atmosphere, saturation of the chemical compounds or particulate matters or atmospheric chemical reactions of various reactive and non-biodegradable compounds. Few commonly seen effects of air pollution are global warming, acid rain, smog and ozone depletion. Major activities which lead to contamination of atmospheric air include motor vehicle exhausts, fertilizer plants, industrial processes, automobile manufacturing, demolition of buildings, construction of roadways, disposal of solid waste, volcanic eruption, manufacturing of electrical components, extraction of metals, forest fires and numerous other activities. Water Pollution When the original quality of water deteriorates due to the contamination by foreign matter, it is called water pollution. This form of pollution can occur due to release of toxic substances, pathogenic germs, substances which require a large quantity of oxygen to decompose, or radioactive substances which tend to accumulate and interfere with the aquatic ecosystem. For instance, when a water body is enriched with nutrients, it leads to an excessive growth of algae, which, in turn, leads to lack of oxygen in the water body. This condition is called eutrophication. The major sources which lead to water pollution are petroleum products, synthetic agricultural chemicals, heavy metals, hazardous wastes, excess organic matter, sediment and infectious organisms. Even, air, thermal and soil pollution lead to water pollution as well. Soil Pollution Any form of alteration in the soil chemical composition leads to soil pollution. This form of pollution occurs due to deposition of solid waste in the soil, accumulation of non-biodegradable substances or toxification of chemicals into poisons. Not following proper soil management methods, excessive tillage of soil resulting in the deterioration of soil structure, improper irrigation practices, no proper supply of organic matter in the soil or poorly drained soil can lead to soil pollution. Few major sources of this category of pollution include agriculture, mining and quarrying, demolitions and construction activities, sewage sludge and industrial wastes. Noise Pollution The amount of noise pollution is synonymous to the standard of living of a particular country. This form of pollution is caused when a particular sound reaches an unfavorably high intensity and in turn causes adverse effects on our daily mechanisms. The intensity of noise is measured in decibels and the scale by which it is measured is logarithmic. This implies that a 10 decibel increase in noise results in the doubling of loudness. While noises above 45 decibels can disturb a persons sleep, noises above 120 decibels can cause hearing impairment. Radioactive Pollution Although nuclear energy is said to be a clean form of energy because it does not release pollutants such as carbon dioxide, the waste resulted from a nuclear reaction leads to a form of pollution known as radioactive pollution. When a radioactive element becomes unstable and begins to decay in order to regain molecular stability, the process is known as radioactivity. There are three types of radiation: alpha rays, beta rays and gamma rays. While alpha radiation can be blocked by a piece of paper as well as human skin, beta particles can penetrate through the skin but can be blocked by a piece of glass or metal. Gamma rays, in turn, penetrate through the human skin and damage cells on its way. They can be only blocked by a massive piece of concrete. Major sources which can cause radioactive pollution are nuclear power plants, nuclear weapons, improper disposal of nuclear waste and uranium mining.

The history of the United States traditionally starts with the Declaration of Independence in the year 1776, yet its territory was occupied first by the Native Americans since prehistoric times and then also by European colonists who followed the voyages of Christopher Columbus starting in 1492. The largest settlements were by the English on the East Coast, starting in 1607. By the 1770s the Thirteen Colonies contained two and half million people, were prosperous, and had developed their own political and legal systems. The British government's threat to American self-government led to war in 1775 and the Declaration of Independence in 1776. With major military and financial support from France, the patriots won the American Revolution. In 1789 the Constitution became the basis for the United States federal government, with war hero George Washington as the first president. The young nation continued to struggle with the scope of central government and with European influence, creating the first political parties in the 1790s, and fighting a second war for independence in 1812. U.S. territory expanded westward across the continent, brushing aside Native Americans and Mexico, and overcoming modernizers who wanted to deepen the economy rather than expand the geography. Slavery of Africans was abolished in the North, but heavy world demand for cotton let it flourish in the Southern states. The 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln calling for no more expansion of slavery triggered a crisis as eleven slave states seceded to found the Confederate States of America in 1861. The bloody American Civil War (186165) redefined the nation and remains the central iconic event. The South was defeated and, in the Reconstruction era, the U.S. ended slavery, extended rights to African Americans, and readmitted secessionist states with loyal governments. The national government was much stronger, and it now had the explicit duty to protect individuals. Reconstruction was rolled back by the white South, leaving the blacks in a world of Jim Crow political, social and economic inferiority. The entire South remained poor while the North and West grew rapidly. Thanks to an outburst of entrepreneurship in the North and the arrival of millions of immigrant workers from Europe, the U.S. became the leading industrialized power by 1900. Disgust with corruption, waste, and traditional politics stimulated theProgressive movement, 1890s-1920s, which pushed for reform in industry and politics and put into the Constitution women's suffrage and Prohibition of alcohol (the latter repealed in 1933). Initially neutral in World War I, the U.S. declared war on Germany in 1917, and funded the Allied victory. The nation refused to follow President Woodrow Wilson's leadership and never joined theLeague of Nations. After a prosperous decade in the 1920s the Wall Street Crash of 1929 marked the onset of the decade-long world-wide Great Depression. A political realignment expelled the Republicans from power and installed Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt and his elaborate and expensive New Deal programs for relief, recovery, and reform. Roosevelt's Democratic coalition, comprising ethics in the north, labor unions, big-city machines, intellectuals, and the white South, dominated national politics into the 1960s. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the U.S. entered World War II alongside the Allies and helped defeat Nazi Germany in Europe and, with the detonation of newly-invented atomic bombs, Japan in Asia and the Pacific. The Soviet Union and the U.S. emerged as opposing superpowers after the war and began the Cold War confronting indirectly in an arms race, the Space Race, and intervention in Europe and eastern Asia. Liberalism reflected in the civil rights movement andopposition to war in Vietnam peaked in the 1960s70s before giving way to conservatism in the early 1980s. The Cold War ended when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, leaving the U.S. to prosper in the booming Information Age economy that was boosted, at least in part, by information technology. International conflict and economic uncertainty heightened by 2001 with the September 11 attacks and subsequent War on Terror and the late-2000s recession.