who was the first person to go skydiving

The first parachute jump in history was made by André-Jacques Garnerin, the inventor of the parachute, on 22 October 1797. Garnerin tested his contraption by leaping from a hydrogen balloon 3,200 feet (980 m) above Paris. Garnerin's parachute bore little resemblance to today's parachutes, however, as it was not packed into any sort of container and did not feature a ripcord.[1] The first intentional freefall jump with a ripcord-operated deployment was not made until over a century later by Leslie Irvin in 1919.[2]  While Georgia Broadwick made an earlier freefall in 1914 when her static line became entangled with her jump aircraft's tail assembly, her freefall descent was not planned. Broadwick cut her static line and deployed her parachute manually, only as a means of freeing herself from the aircraft to which she had become entangled.[3]

Parachuting

Parachuting, or skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point to Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent with the use of a parachute or parachutes. It may involve more or less free-falling which is a period when the parachute has not yet been deployed and the body gradually accelerates to terminal velocity.

The military developed parachuting technology as a way to save aircrews from emergencies aboard balloons and aircraft in flight, and later as a way of delivering soldiers to the battlefield. Early competitions date back to the 1930s, and it became an international sport in 1952.[how?]

Parachuting is performed as a recreational activity and a competitive sport, widely considered an extreme sport due to the risks involved. Modern militaries utilize parachuting for the deployment of airborne forces and supplies, and special operations forces commonly employ parachuting, especially free-fall parachuting, as a method of insertion. Occasionally forest firefighters, known as "smokejumpers" in the United States, use parachuting as a means of rapidly inserting themselves near forest fires in especially remote or otherwise inaccessible areas.

Manually exiting an aircraft and parachuting to safety has been widely used by aviators (especially military aviators and aircrew), and passengers to escape an aircraft that could not otherwise land safely. While this method of escape is relatively rare in modern times, it was commonly used in World War I by military aviators, and utilized extensively throughout the air wars of World War II. In modern times, the most common means of escape from an aircraft in distress is via an ejection seat. Said system is usually operated by the pilot, aircrew member, or passenger, by engaging an activation device manually. In most designs, this will lead to the seat being propelled out of and away from the aircraft carrying the occupant with it, by means of either an explosive charge or a rocket propulsion system. Once clear of the aircraft, the ejection seat will deploy a parachute, although some older models entrusted this step to manual activation by the seat's occupant.

Despite the perception of danger, fatalities are relatively rare. In the U.S. during the 1970's, the sport averaged 42.5 fatalities annually. In the 80's, the average dropped to 34.1, and in the 90's, the average decreased to 32.3 deaths per year. Between 2000 and 2009, the average dropped to 25.8 and over the eight years after 2009, the annual average declined to 22.4 fatalities (roughly 0.0075 fatalities per 1,000 jumps). In 2017, members of one organization, the United States Parachute Association (USPA) reported 2,585 skydiving injuries sufficiently severe to require resort to a medical care facility.[4]

In the US and in most of the western world, skydivers are required to carry two parachutes. The reserve parachute must be periodically inspected and re-packed (whether used or not) by a certified parachute rigger (in the US, an FAA certificated parachute rigger every 180 days). Many skydivers use an automatic activation device (AAD) that opens the reserve parachute at a pre-determined altitude if it detects that the skydiver is still in free fall. Depending on the country, AADs are often mandatory for new jumpers, and/or required for all jumpers regardless of their experience level.[5] Most skydivers wear a visual altimeter, and an increasing number also use audible altimeters fitted to their helmets.

Injuries and fatalities occurring under a fully functional parachute usually happen because the skydiver performed unsafe maneuvers or made an error in judgment while flying their canopy, typically resulting in a high-speed impact with the ground or other hazards on the ground.[6] One of the most common sources of injury is a low turn under a high-performance canopy and while swooping. Swooping is the advanced discipline of gliding at high-speed parallel to the ground during landing.

Changing wind conditions are another risk factor. In conditions of strong winds and turbulence during hot days, the parachutist can be caught in downdrafts close to the ground. Shifting winds can cause a crosswind or downwind landing which have a higher potential for injury due to the wind speed adding to the landing speed.

Another risk factor is that of "canopy collisions", or collisions between two or more skydivers under fully inflated parachutes. Canopy collisions can cause the jumpers' inflated parachutes to entangle with each other, often resulting in a sudden collapse (deflation) of one or more of the involved parachutes. When this occurs, the jumpers often must quickly perform emergency procedures (if there is sufficient altitude to do so) to "cut-away" (jettison) from their main canopies and deploy their reserve canopies. Canopy collisions are particularly dangerous when occurring at altitudes too low to allow the jumpers adequate time to safely jettison their main parachutes and fully deploy their reserve parachutes.

Equipment failure rarely causes fatalities and injuries. Approximately one in 750 deployments of a main parachute result in a malfunction.[7] Ram-air parachutes typically spin uncontrollably when malfunctioning, and must be jettisoned before deploying the reserve parachute.  Reserve parachutes are packed and deployed differently; they are also designed more conservatively and built and tested to more exacting standards so they are more reliable than main parachutes, but the real safety advantage comes from the probability of an unlikely main malfunction multiplied by the even less likely probability of a reserve malfunction. This yields an even smaller probability of a double malfunction although the possibility of a main malfunction that cannot be cutaway causing a reserve malfunction is a very real risk.

Parachuting disciplines such as BASE jumping or those that involve equipment such as wingsuit flying and sky surfing have a higher risk factor due to the lower mobility of the jumper and the greater risk of entanglement. For this reason,[tone] these disciplines are generally practiced by experienced jumpers.[citation needed]

Depictions in commercial films – notably Hollywood action movies[citation needed] – usually overstate the dangers of the sport.[tone] Often, the characters in such films are shown performing feats that are physically impossible without special effects assistance. In other cases, their practices would cause them to be grounded or shunned at any safety-conscious drop zone or club. USPA member drop zones in the US and Canada are required to have an experienced jumper act as a "safety officer" (in Canada DSO – Drop Zone Safety Officer; in the U.S. S&TA – Safety and Training Advisor) who is responsible for dealing with jumpers who violate rules, regulations, or otherwise act in a fashion deemed unsafe by the appointed individual.

In many countries, either the local regulations or the liability-conscious prudence of the drop zone owners require that parachutists must have attained the age of majority before engaging in the sport.

The first skydive performed without a parachute was by stuntman Gary Connery on 23 May 2012 at 732 m.[8]

Due to the hazardous nature of skydiving, the greatest of precautions are taken to avoid parachuting injuries and death. For first time solo-parachutists, this includes anywhere from 4 to 8 hours of ground instruction.[9] Since the majority of parachute injuries occur upon landing (approximately 85%),[10] the greatest emphasis within ground training is usually on the proper parachute landing fall (PLF), which seeks to orient the body as to evenly disperse the impact through flexion of several large, insulating muscles (such as the medial gastrocnemius, tibialis anterior, rectus femoris, vastus medialis, biceps femoris, and semitendinosus ),[11] as opposed to individual bones, tendons, and ligaments which break and tear more easily.

Parachutists, especially those flying smaller sport canopies, often land with dangerous amounts of kinetic energy, and for this reason, improper landings are the cause of more than 30% of all skydiving related injuries and deaths.[10] Often, injuries sustained during parachute landing are caused when a single outstretched limb, such as a hand or foot, is extended separately from the rest of the body, causing it to sustain forces disproportional to the support structures within. This tendency is displayed in the accompanying chart, which shows the significantly higher proportion of wrist and ankle injuries among the 186 injured in a 110,000 parachute jump study.

Due to the possibility of fractures (commonly occurring on the tibia and the ankle mortise), it is recommended that parachutists wear supportive footwear.[10]  Supportive footwear prevents inward and outward ankle rolling, allowing the PLF to safely transfer impact energy through the true ankle joint, and dissipate it via the medial gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior muscles.

Parachuting in poor weather, especially with thunderstorms, high winds, and dust devils can be a dangerous activity. Reputable drop zones will suspend normal operations during inclement weather. In the United States, the USPA's Basic Safety Requirements prohibit solo student skydivers from jumping in winds exceeding 14Â mph while using ram-air equipment. However, maximum ground winds are unlimited for licensed skydivers.[12]

As parachuting is an aviation activity under the visual flight rules,[13] it is generally illegal to jump in or through clouds, according to the relevant rules governing the airspace, such as FAR105[14] in the US or FaldskÃ¦rmsbestemmelser (Parachuting Ordinances)[15] in Denmark. Jumpers and pilots of the dropping aircraft similarly bear responsibility of following the other VFR elements,[13] in particular ensuring that the air traffic at the moment of jump does not create a hazard.

A collision with another canopy is a statistical hazard, and may be avoided by observing simple principles, including knowing upper wind speeds, the number of party members and exit groups, and having sufficient exit separation between jumpers.[16] In 2013, 17% of all skydiving fatalities in the United States resulted from mid-air collisions.[17]

Skydiving can be practised without jumping. Vertical wind tunnels are used to practise for free fall ("indoor skydiving" or "bodyflight"), while virtual reality parachute simulators are used to practise parachute control.

Beginning skydivers seeking training have the following options:

At a sport skydiver's deployment altitude, the individual manually deploys a small pilot-chute which acts as a drogue, catching air and pulling out the main parachute or the main canopy. There are two principal systems in use: the "throw-out", where the skydiver pulls a toggle attached to the top of the pilot-chute stowed in a small pocket outside the main container: and the "pull-out", where the skydiver pulls a small pad attached to the pilot-chute which is stowed inside the container.

Throw-out pilot-chute pouches are usually positioned at the bottom of the container – the B.O.C. deployment system – but older harnesses often have leg-mounted pouches. The latter are safe for flat-flying, but often unsuitable for freestyle or head-down flying.

In a typical civilian sport parachute system, the pilot-chute is connected to a line known as the "bridle", which in turn is attached to a small deployment bag that contains the folded parachute and the canopy suspension lines, which are stowed with rubber bands. At the bottom of the container that holds the deployment bag is a closing loop which, during packing, is fed through the grommets of the four flaps that are used to close the container. At that point, a curved pin that is attached to the bridle is inserted through the closing loop. The next step involves folding the pilot-chute and placing it in a pouch (e.g., B.O.C pouch).

Activation begins when the pilot-chute is thrown out. It inflates and creates drag, pulling the pin out of the closing loop and allowing the pilot-chute to pull the deployment bag from the container. The parachute lines are pulled loose from the rubber bands and extend as the canopy starts to open. A rectangular piece of fabric called the "slider" (which separates the parachute lines into four main groups fed through grommets in the four respective corners of the slider) slows the opening of the parachute and works its way down until the canopy is fully open and the slider is just above the head of the skydiver. The slider slows and controls the deployment of the parachute. Without a slider, the parachute would inflate fast, potentially damaging the parachute fabric and/or suspension lines, as well as causing discomfort, injury or even death of the jumper.[18] During a normal deployment, a skydiver will generally experience a few seconds of intense deceleration, in the realm of 3 to 4 g, while the parachute slows the descent from 190 km/h (120 mph) to approximately 28 km/h (17 mph).

If a skydiver experiences a malfunction of their main parachute which they cannot correct, they pull a "cut-away" handle on the front right-hand side of their harness (on the chest) which will release the main canopy from the harness/container. Once free from the malfunctioning main canopy, the reserve canopy can be activated manually by pulling a second handle on the front left harness. Some containers are fitted with a connecting line from the main to reserve parachutes – known as a reserve static line (RSL) – which pulls open the reserve container faster than a manual release could. Whichever method is used, a spring-loaded pilot-chute then extracts the reserve parachute from the upper half of the container.

One example of this is "Hit and Rock", a variant of accuracy landing devised to let people of varying skill levels compete for fun. "Hit and Rock" is originally from POPS (Parachutists Over Phorty Society). The object is to land as close as possible to the chair, remove the parachute harness, sprint to the chair, sit fully in the chair and rock back and forth at least one time. The contestant is timed from the moment that feet touch the ground until that first rock is completed.  This event is considered a race.

Angle Flying was presented for the first time in 2000 at the World Freestyle Competitions, the European Espace Boogie, and the Eloy Freefly Festival.

The technique consists of flying diagonally with a determinate relation between angle and trajectory speed of the body, to obtain an air stream that allows for control of flight. The aim is to fly in formation at the same level and angle, and to be able to perform different aerial games, such as freestyle, three-dimensional flight formation with grip, or acrobatic free-flying.[19]

Classic accuracy is running with opened parachute, in individual or team contest. The aim is to touch down on a target whose center is 2 cm in diameter. The target can be a deep foam mattress or an air-filled landing pad.
An electronic recording pad of 32 cm in diameter is set in the middle. It measures score in 1 cm increments up to 16 cm and displays result just after landing.

The first part of any competition take place over 8 rounds. Then in the individual competition, after this 8 selective rounds, the top 25% jump a semi-final round. After semi-final round, the top 50% are selected for the final round.
The competitor with the lowest cumulative score is declared the winner.

Competitors jump in teams of 5 maximum, exiting the aircraft at 1000 or 1200 meters and opening their parachutes sequentially to allow each competitor a clear approach to the target.

This sport is unpredictable because weather conditions play a very important part. So classic accuracy requires high adaptability to aerology and excellent steering control.

It is also the most interesting discipline for spectator due to the closeness of action (a few metres) and the possibility to be practised everywhere (sport ground, stadium, urban place...).
Today, classic accuracy is the most practiced (in competition) discipline of skydiving in the world.

A Canopy Relative Work, or CREW jump for short (also known as Canopy Formation flying), is a skydive where the participants open their parachutes very quickly after leaving the aircraft with the intention of flying in close proximity to each other. The goal is to create various formations by "docking" with other parachutists on the jump. The dock is often accomplished by placing ones feet into the lines of another person's parachute. Formations require at least 2 people, but can have many more.

Due to the close proximity of the canopies, care has to be taken by all participants to ensure the safety of the jump. It is common for a CREW jumper to carry a hook knife to use in case they become entangled in another jumpers lines.

A cross-country jump is a skydive where the participants open their parachutes immediately after jumping, with the intention of covering as much ground under canopy as possible. Usual distance from jump run to the dropzone can be as much as several miles.

There are two variations of a cross-country jump:

The more popular one is to plan the exit point upwind of the drop zone. A map and information about the wind direction and velocity at different altitudes are used to determine the exit point. This is usually set at a distance from where all the participants should be able to fly back to the drop zone.

The other variation is to jump out directly above the drop zone and fly down wind as far as possible. This increases the risks of the jump substantially, as the participants must be able to find a suitable landing area before they run out of altitude.

Two-way radios and cell-phones are often used to make sure everyone has landed safely, and, in case of a landing off the drop zone, to find out where the parachutist is so that ground crew can pick them up.

Formation Skydiving (FS) was born in California, USA during the 1960s. The first documented skydiving formation occurred over Arvin, California in March 1964 when Mitch Poteet, Don Henderson, Andy Keech and Lou Paproski successfully formed a 4-man star formation, photographed by Bob Buquor. This discipline was formerly referred to in the skydiving community as Relative Work, often abbreviated to RW, Relly or Rel.[20]

Parachuting is not always restricted to daytime hours; experienced skydivers sometimes perform night jumps. For safety reasons, this requires more equipment than a usual daytime jump and in most jurisdictions, it requires both an advanced skydiving license (at least a B-License in the U.S.) and a meeting with the local safety official covering who will be doing what on the load. A lit altimeter (preferably accompanied with an audible altimeter) is a must. Skydivers performing night jumps often take flashlights up with them so that they can check their canopies have properly deployed.

Visibility to other skydivers and other aircraft is also a consideration; FAA regulations require skydivers jumping at night to be wearing a light visible for three miles (5Â km) in every direction, and to turn it on once they are under canopy. A chem-light(glowstick) is a good idea on a night jump.

Night jumpers should be made aware of the dark zone, when landing at night. Above 30 meters (100 feet) jumpers flying their canopy have a good view of the landing zone normally because of reflected ambient light/moon light. Once they get close to the ground, this ambient light source is lost, because of the low angle of reflection. The lower they get, the darker the ground looks. At about 100 feet and below it may seem that they are landing in a black hole. Suddenly it becomes very dark, and the jumper hits the ground soon after. This ground rush should be explained to, and anticipated by, the first time night jumper. Recommendations should be made to the jumper to utilize a canopy that is larger than they typically use on a day jump and to attempt to schedule their first night jump as close to a full moon as possible to make it easier to see the ground.

While more dangerous than regular skydiving and more difficult to schedule, two night jumps are required by the USPA for a jumper to obtain their D (expert) license.

Pond swooping is a form of competitive parachuting wherein canopy pilots attempt to touch down and glide across a small body of water, and onto the shore. Events provide lighthearted competition, rating accuracy, speed, distance and style. Points and peer approval are reduced when a participant "chows", or fails to reach shore and sinks into the water. Swoop ponds are not deep enough to drown in under ordinary circumstances, their main danger being from the concussive force of an incorrectly executed maneuver. In order to gain distance, swoopers increase their speed by executing a "hook turn", wherein both speed and difficulty increase with the angle of the turn. Hook turns are most commonly measured in increments of 90 degrees. As the angle of the turn increases, both horizontal and vertical speed are increased, such that a misjudgement of altitude or imprecise manipulation of the canopy's control structures (front risers, rear risers, and toggles) can lead to a high speed impact with the pond or Earth. Prevention of injury is the main reason why a pond is used for swooping rather than a grass landing area.

This is when skydivers have a ball which weighs 455â€“590 grams and release it in free fall. The ball maintains the same fall rate as the skydivers. The skydivers can pass the ball around to each other whilst in free fall. At a predetermined altitude, the "ball master" will catch the ball and hold on to it to ensure it does not impact the ground. Space balls are prohibited at many drop zones, due to risk to persons and property on the ground in the event that the ball is not caught or dropped during/after deployment

Style can be considered as sprint of parachuting. This individual discipline is played in free fall.

The idea is to take maximum speed and complete a pre-designated series of maneuvers as fast and cleanly as possible (speed can exceed 400 km/h / 250 mph)

Jumps are filmed using a ground-based camera (with an exceptional lens to record the performance).

Performance is timed (from the start of the maneuver until its completion) and then judged in public at the end of the jump.
Competition includes 4 qualifying rounds and a final for the top 8.
Competitors jump from a height of 2200 m to 2500 m.

They rush into an acceleration stage for 15 to 20 seconds and then run their series of maneuvers benefiting to the maximum of the stored speed.

Those series consist of Turns and Back-Loops to achieve in a pre-designated order. The incorrect performance of the maneuvers gives rise to penalties that are added at runtime.

The performance of the athlete is defined in seconds and hundredths of a second.
The competitor with the lowest cumulative time is declared the winner.

Notice the complete sequence is performed by leading international experts in just over 6 seconds, penalties included.

Thanks to large unpopulated areas to jump over,'stuff' jumps become possible. These jumps consist of skydivers leaving the aircraft with some object. Rubber raft jumps are popular; where the jumpers sit in a rubber raft. Cars, bicycles, motorcycles, vacuum cleaners, water tanks, and inflatable companions have also been thrown out the back of an aircraft. At a certain altitude, the jumpers break off from the object and deploy their parachutes, leaving it to smash into the ground at terminal velocity.

A tradition at many drop zones is the swoop and chug. As parachutists land from the last load of the day, other skydivers often hand the landing skydivers a beer that is customarily chugged in the landing area. This is sometimes timed as a friendly competition but is usually an informal, untimed, kick-off for the night's festivities.[21]

Tracking is where skydivers take a body position to achieve a high forward speed, allowing them to cover a great distance over the ground. Tracking is also used at the end of group jumps to achieve separation from other jumpers before parachute deployment. The tracking position involves sweeping the arms out to the side of the body and straightening the legs with the toes pointed.

Using a vertical wind tunnel to simulate free fall has become a discipline of its own and is not only used for training but has its own competitions, teams, and figures.

'Wingsuit flying' or 'wingsuiting' is the sport of flying through the air using a wingsuit, which adds surface area to the human body to enable a significant increase in lift. The common type of wingsuit creates an extra surface area with fabric between the legs and under the arms.

National parachuting associations exist in many countries, many affiliated with the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), to promote their sport. In most cases, national representative bodies, as well as local drop zone operators, require that participants carry certification attesting to their training their level of experience in the sport, and their proven competence. Anyone who cannot produce such bona-fides is treated as a student, requiring close supervision.[citation needed]

The sole organization in the United States is the United States Parachute Association (USPA), which issues licenses and ratings, governs skydiving, publishes Parachutist Magazine, and represents skydiving to government agencies. USPA publishes the Skydivers Information Manual (SIM) and many other resources. In Canada, the Canadian Sport Parachuting Association is the lead organization.  In South Africa, the sport is managed by the Parachute Association of South Africa, and in the United Kingdom by the British Parachute Association. In Brazil the CNP (Centro Nacional de Paraquedismo) sets in Boituva, where many records have been broken and where it is known for being the 2nd largest center in the world and the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.[citation needed]

Within the sport, associations promote safety, technical advances, training-and-certification, competition and other interests of their members. Outside their respective communities, they promote their sport to the public and often intercede with government regulators.

Competitions are organized at regional, national and international levels in most these disciplines. Some of them offer amateur competition.

Many of the more photogenic/videogenic variants also enjoy sponsored events with prize money for the winners.

The majority of jumpers tend to be non-competitive, enjoying the opportunity to skydive with their friends on weekends and holidays. The atmosphere of their gatherings is relaxed, sociable and welcoming to newcomers.[citation needed] Skydiving events, called "boogies", are arranged at local, national and international scale each year, which attracting both young jumpers and their elders â€“ Parachutists Over Phorty (POPs), Skydivers Over Sixty (SOS) and even older groups.

In parachuting, a drop zone or DZ is the area above and around a location where a parachutist freefalls and expects to land. It is usually situated beside a small airport, often sharing the facility with other general aviation activities. There is generally a landing area designated for parachute landings. Drop zone staff includes the DZO (drop zone operator or owner), manifestors, pilots, instructors, coaches, cameramen, packers, riggers and other general staff.

Costs in the sport are not trivial. As new technological advances or performance enhancements are introduced, equipment tends to increase in price.[citation needed] Similarly, the average skydiver carries more equipment than in earlier years, with safety devices (such as an AAD) contributing to a significant portion of the cost.

A full set of brand-new equipment can easily cost as much as a new motorcycle or half a small car.[citation needed] The market is not large enough to permit the steady lowering of prices that is seen with some other equipment like computers.
A new main canopy for the experienced parachutist can cost between $2,000 and $3,000 US [22][23][24] Higher performance and Tandem Parachutes cost significantly more, whilst large docile student parachutes often cost less.

Most parachuting equipment is ruggedly designed and is enjoyed by several owners before being retired. A rigger is trained to spot signs of damage or misuse. Riggers also keep track of industry product and safety bulletins, and can, therefore, determine if a piece of equipment is up-to-date and serviceable.


how over exploitation of forest resources and deforestation has affected the environment

Forests are overexploited when they are logged at a rate faster than reforestation takes place. Reforestation competes with other land uses such as food production, livestock grazing, and living space for further economic growth. Historically utilization of forest products, including timber and fuel wood, have played a key role in human societies, comparable to the roles of water and cultivable land. Today, developed countries continue to utilize timber for building houses, and wood pulp for paper. In developing countries almost three billion people rely on wood for heating and cooking.[30] Short-term economic gains made by conversion of forest to agriculture, or overexploitation of wood products, typically leads to loss of long-term income and long term biological productivity. West Africa, Madagascar, Southeast Asia and many other regions have experienced lower revenue because of overexploitation and the consequent declining timber harvests.[31]

Overexploitation

Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource. The term applies to natural resources such as: wild medicinal plants, grazing pastures, game animals, fish stocks, forests, and water aquifers.

In ecology, overexploitation describes one of the five main activities threatening global biodiversity.[2] Ecologists use the term to describe populations that are harvested at a rate that is unsustainable, given their natural rates of mortality and capacities for reproduction. This can result in extinction at the population level and even extinction of whole species. In conservation biology the term is usually used in the context of human economic activity that involves the taking of biological resources, or organisms, in larger numbers than their populations can withstand.[3] The term is also used and defined somewhat differently in fisheries, hydrology and natural resource management.

Overexploitation can lead to resource destruction, including extinctions. However it is also possible for overexploitation to be sustainable, as discussed below in the section on fisheries. In the context of fishing, the term overfishing can be used instead of overexploitation, as can overgrazing in stock management, overlogging in forest management, overdrafting in aquifer management, and endangered species in species monitoring. Overexploitation is not an activity limited to humans. Introduced predators and herbivores, for example, can overexploit native flora and fauna.

Concern about overexploitation is relatively recent, though overexploitation itself is not a new phenomenon. It has been observed for millennia. For example, ceremonial cloaks worn by the Hawaiian kings were made from the mamo bird; a single cloak used the feathers of 70,000 birds of this now-extinct species. The dodo, a flightless bird from Mauritius, is another well-known example of overexploitation. As with many island species, it was naive about certain predators, allowing humans to approach and kill it with ease.[6]

From the earliest of times, hunting has been an important human activity as a means of survival. There is a whole history of overexploitation in the form of overhunting. The overkill hypothesis (Quaternary extinction events) explains why the megafaunal extinctions occurred within a relatively short period of time. This can be traced with human migration. The most convincing evidence of this theory is that 80% of the North American large mammal species disappeared within 1000 years of the arrival of humans on the western hemisphere continents.[7] The fastest ever recorded extinction of megafauna occurred in New Zealand, where by 1500 AD, just 200 years after settling the islands, ten species of the giant moa birds were hunted to extinction by the Māori.[4] A second wave of extinctions occurred later with European settlement.

In more recent times, overexploitation has resulted in the gradual emergence of the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development, which has built on other concepts, such as sustainable yield,[8] eco-development[9][10] and deep ecology.[11][12]

Overexploitation doesn't necessarily lead to the destruction of the resource, nor is it necessarily unsustainable. However, depleting the numbers or amount of the resource can change its quality. For example, footstool palm is a wild palm tree found in Southeast Asia. Its leaves are used for thatching and food wrapping, and overharvesting has resulted in its leaf size becoming smaller.

The tragedy of the commons refers to a dilemma described in an article by that name written by Garrett Hardin and first published in the journal Science in 1968.[13]

Central to Hardin's essay is an example which is a useful parable for understanding how overexploitation can occur. This example was first sketched in an 1833 pamphlet by William Forster Lloyd, as a hypothetical and simplified situation based on medieval land tenure in Europe, of herders sharing a common on which they are each entitled to let their cows graze. In Hardin's example, it is in each herder's interest to put each succeeding cow he acquires onto the land, even if the carrying capacity of the common is exceeded and it is temporarily or permanently damaged for all as a result. The herder receives all of the benefits from an additional cow, while the damage to the common is shared by the entire group. If all herders make this individually rational economic decision, the common will be overexploited or even destroyed to the detriment of all. However, since all herders reach the same rational conclusion, overexploitation in the form of overgrazing occurs, with immediate losses, and the pasture may be degraded to the point where it gives very little return.

"Therein is the tragedy. Each man is locked into a system that compels him to increase his herd without limitâ€”in a world that is limited. Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons." (Hardin, 1968)[13]

In the course of his essay, Hardin develops the theme, drawing in many examples of latter day commons, such as national parks, the atmosphere, oceans, rivers and fish stocks. The example of fish stocks had led some to call this the "tragedy of the fishers".[14] A major theme running through the essay is the growth of human populations, with the Earth's finite resources being the general common.

The tragedy of the commons has intellectual roots tracing back to Aristotle, who noted that "what is common to the greatest number has the least care bestowed upon it",[15] as well as to Hobbes and his Leviathan.[16] The opposite situation to a tragedy of the commons is sometimes referred to as a tragedy of the anticommons: a situation in which rational individuals, acting separately, collectively waste a given resource by underutilizing it.

The tragedy of the commons can be avoided if it is appropriately regulated. Hardin's use of "commons" has frequently been misunderstood, leading Hardin to later remark that he should have titled his work "The tragedy of the unregulated commons".[17]

In wild fisheries, overexploitation or overfishing occurs when a fish stock has been fished down "below the size that, on average, would support the long-term maximum sustainable yield of the fishery".[18] However, overexploitation can be sustainable.

When a fishery starts harvesting fish from a previously unexploited stock, the biomass of the fish stock will decrease, since harvesting means fish are being removed. For sustainability, the rate at which the fish replenish biomass through reproduction must balance the rate at which the fish are being harvested. If the harvest rate is increased, then the stock biomass will further decrease. At a certain point, the maximum harvest yield that can be sustained will be reached, and further attempts to increase the harvest rate will result in the collapse of the fishery. This point is called the maximum sustainable yield, and in practice, usually occurs when the fishery has been fished down to about 30% of the biomass it had before harvesting started.[19]

It is possible to fish the stock down further to, say, 15% of the pre-harvest biomass, and then adjust the harvest rate so the biomass remains at that level. In this case, the fishery is sustainable, but is now overexploited, because the stock has been run down to the point where the sustainable yield is less than it could be.

Fish stocks are said to "collapse" if their biomass declines by more than 95 percent of their maximum historical biomass. Atlantic cod stocks were severely overexploited in the 1970s and 1980s, leading to their abrupt collapse in 1992.[1] Even though fishing has ceased, the cod stocks have failed to recover.[1] The absence of cod as the apex predator in many areas has led to trophic cascades.[1]

About 25% of world fisheries are now overexploited to the point where their current biomass is less than the level that maximizes their sustainable yield.[20] These depleted fisheries can often recover if fishing pressure is reduced until the stock biomass returns to the optimal biomass. At this point, harvesting can be resumed near the maximum sustainable yield.[21]

The tragedy of the commons can be avoided within the context of fisheries if fishing effort and practices are regulated appropriately by fisheries management. One effective approach may be assigning some measure of ownership in the form of individual transferable quotas (ITQs) to fishermen. In 2008, a large scale study of fisheries that used ITQs, and ones that didn't, provided strong evidence that ITQs help prevent collapses and restore fisheries that appear to be in decline.[22][23]

Water resources, such as lakes and aquifers, are usually renewable resources which naturally recharge (the term fossil water is sometimes used to describe aquifers which don't recharge). Overexploitation occurs if a water resource, such as the Ogallala Aquifer, is mined or extracted at a rate that exceeds the recharge rate, that is, at a rate that exceeds the practical sustained yield. Recharge usually comes from area streams, rivers and lakes. An aquifer which has been overexploited is said to be overdrafted or depleted. Forests enhance the recharge of aquifers in some locales, although generally forests are a major source of aquifer depletion.[25][26] Depleted aquifers can become polluted with contaminants such as nitrates, or permanently damaged through subsidence or through saline intrusion from the ocean.

This turns much of the world's underground water and lakes into finite resources with peak usage debates similar to oil.[27][28] These debates usually centre around agriculture and suburban water usage but generation of electricity from nuclear energy or coal and tar sands mining is also water resource intensive.[29] A modified Hubbert curve applies to any resource that can be harvested faster than it can be replaced.[24] Though Hubbert's original analysis did not apply to renewable resources, their overexploitation can result in a Hubbert-like peak. This has led to the concept of peak water.

Overexploitation is one of the main threats to global biodiversity.[2] Other threats include pollution, introduced and invasive species, habitat fragmentation, habitat destruction,[2] uncontrolled hybridization,[32] global warming,[33] ocean acidification[34] and the driver behind many of these, human overpopulation.[35]

One of the key health issues associated with biodiversity is drug discovery and the availability of medicinal resources.[36] A significant proportion of drugs are natural products derived, directly or indirectly, from biological sources. Marine ecosystems are of particular interest in this regard.[37] However unregulated and inappropriate bioprospecting could potentially lead to overexploitation, ecosystem degradation and loss of biodiversity.[38][39][40]

Overexploitation threatens one-third of endangered vertebrates, as well as other groups. Excluding edible fish, the illegal trade in wildlife is valued at $10 billion per year. Industries responsible for this include the trade in bushmeat, the trade in Chinese medicine, and the fur trade.[41] The Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES was set up in order to control and regulate the trade in endangered animals. It currently protects, to a varying degree, some 33,000 species of animals and plants. It is estimated that a quarter of the endangered vertebrates in the United States of America and half of the endangered mammals is attributed to overexploitation.[2][42]

All living organisms require resources to survive. Overexploitation of these resources for protracted periods can deplete natural stocks to the point where they are unable to recover within a short time frame. Humans have always harvested food and other resources they have needed to survive. Human populations, historically, were small, and methods of collection limited to small quantities. With an exponential increase in human population, expanding markets and increasing demand, combined with improved access and techniques for capture, are causing the exploitation of many species beyond sustainable levels.[43] In practical terms, if continued, it reduces valuable resources to such low levels that their exploitation is no longer sustainable and can lead to the extinction of a species, in addition to having dramatic, unforeseen effects, on the ecosystem.[44] Overexploitation often occurs rapidly as markets open, utilising previously untapped resources, or locally used species.

Today, overexploitation and misuse of natural resources is an ever-present threat for species richness. This is more prevalent when looking at island ecology and the species that inhabit them, as islands can be viewed as the world in miniature. Island endemic populations are more prone to extinction from overexploitation, as they often exist at low densities with reduced reproductive rates.[45] A good example of this are island snails, such as the Hawaiian Achatinella and the French Polynesian Partula. Achatinelline snails have 15 species listed as extinct and 24 critically endangered[46] while 60 species of partulidae are considered extinct with 14 listed as critically endangered.[47] The WCMC have attributed over-collecting and very low lifetime fecundity for the extreme vulnerability exhibited among these species.[48]

As another example, when the humble hedgehog was introduced to the Scottish island of Uist, the population greatly expanded and took to consuming and overexploiting shorebird eggs, with drastic consequences for their breeding success. Twelve species of avifauna are affected, with some species numbers being reduced by 39%.[49]

Where there is substantial human migration, civil unrest, or war, controls may no longer exist. With civil unrest, for example in the Congo and Rwanda, firearms have become common and the breakdown of food distribution networks in such countries leaves the resources of the natural environment vulnerable.[50] Animals are even killed as target practice, or simply to spite the government. Populations of large primates, such as gorillas and chimpanzees, ungulates and other mammals, may be reduced by 80% or more by hunting, and certain species may be eliminated altogether.[51] This decline has been called the bushmeat crisis.

Overall, 50 bird species that have become extinct since 1500 (approximately 40% of the total) have been subject to overexploitation,[52] including:

Other species affected by overexploitation include:

Overexploitation of species can result in knock-on or cascade effects. This can particularly apply if, through overexploitation, a habitat loses its apex predator. Because of the loss of the top predator, a dramatic increase in their prey species can occur. In turn, the unchecked prey can then overexploit their own food resources until population numbers dwindle, possibly to the point of extinction.

A classic example of cascade effects occurred with sea otters. Starting before the 17th century and not phased out until 1911, sea otters were hunted aggressively for their exceptionally warm and valuable pelts, which could fetch up to $2500 US. This caused cascade effects through the kelp forest ecosystems along the Pacific Coast of North America.[54]

One of the sea ottersâ€™ primary food sources is the sea urchin. When hunters caused sea otter populations to decline, an ecological release of sea urchin populations occurred. The sea urchins then overexploited their main food source, kelp, creating urchin barrens, areas of seabed denuded of kelp, but carpeted with urchins. No longer having food to eat, the sea urchin became locally extinct as well. Also, since kelp forest ecosystems are homes to many other species, the loss of the kelp caused other cascade effects of secondary extinctions.[55]

In 1911, when only one small group of 32 sea otters survived in a remote cove, an international treaty was signed to prevent further exploitation of the sea otters. Under heavy protection, the otters multiplied and repopulated the depleted areas, which slowly recovered. More recently, with declining numbers of fish stocks, again due to overexploitation, killer whales have experienced a food shortage and have been observed feeding on sea otters, again reducing their numbers.[56]


what sports are they adding to the olympics

On August 3, 2016, the IOC voted to add baseball/softball, karate, sport climbing, surfing, and skateboarding for the 2020 Summer Olympics.[20]

Olympic sports

Olympic sports are sports contested in the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. The 2016 Summer Olympics included 28 sports, with five additional sports due to be added to the 2020 Summer Olympics. The 2014 Winter Olympics included seven sports.[1] The number and kinds of events may change slightly from one Olympiad to another. Each Olympic sport is represented by an international governing body, namely an International Federation (IF).[2] The International Olympic Committee (IOC) establishes a hierarchy of sports, disciplines, and events.[2] According to this hierarchy, the Olympic sports can be subdivided into multiple disciplines, which are often assumed to be distinct sports. Examples include swimming and water polo (disciplines of aquatics, represented by the International Swimming Federation),[3] or figure skating and speed skating (disciplines of skating, represented by the International Skating Union).[4] In their turn, disciplines can be subdivided into events, for which medals are actually awarded.[2] A sport or discipline is included in the Olympic program if the IOC determines it is widely practiced around the world, that is, the number of countries that compete in a given sport is the indicator of the sport's prevalence. The IOC's requirements reflect participation in the Olympic Games as wellâ€”more stringent toward men (as they are represented in higher numbers) and summer sports (as more nations compete in the Summer Olympics).

Previous Olympic Games included sports which are no longer present on the current program, like polo and tug of war.[5] These sports, known as "discontinued sports", were later removed either because of lack of interest or absence of an appropriate governing body.[2] Archery and tennis are examples of sports that were competed at the early Games and were later dropped by the IOC, but managed to return to the Olympic program (in 1972 and 1988, respectively). Demonstration sports have often been included in the Olympic Games, usually to promote a local sport from the host country or to gauge interest and support for the sport.[6] Some such sports, like baseball and curling, were added to the official Olympic program (in 1992 and 1998, respectively). Baseball, however, was discontinued after the 2008 Summer Olympics.

The term "sport" in Olympic terminology refers to all the events that are sanctioned by one international sport federation, a definition that may be different from the common meaning of the word sport. One sport, by Olympic definition, may be divided into several disciplines, which are often regarded as separate sports in common language.

For example, aquatics is a summer Olympic sport that includes six disciplines: swimming, synchronized swimming, diving, water polo, open water swimming, and high diving (the last of which is a non-Olympic discipline), since all these disciplines are governed at international level by the International Swimming Federation.[1] Skating is a winter Olympic sport represented by the International Skating Union, and includes four disciplines: figure skating, speed skating (on a traditional long track), short track speed skating, and synchronized skating (the latter is a non-Olympic discipline).[1] The sport with the largest number of Olympic disciplines is skiing, with six: alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, nordic combined, snowboarding, and freestyle skiing.

Other notable multi-discipline sports are gymnastics (artistic, rhythmic, and trampoline), cycling (road, track, mountain, and BMX), volleyball (indoors and beach), wrestling (freestyle and Greco-Roman), canoeing (flatwater and slalom), and bobsleigh (includes skeleton). The disciplines listed here are only those contested in the Olympicsâ€”gymnastics has two non-Olympic disciplines, while cycling and wrestling have three each.

It should also be noted that the IOC definition of a "discipline" may differ from that used by an international federation. For example, the IOC considers artistic gymnastics a single discipline, but the International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG) classifies men's and women's artistic gymnastics as separate disciplines.[7] Similarly, the IOC considers freestyle wrestling to be a single discipline, but United World Wrestling uses "freestyle wrestling" strictly for the men's version, classifying women's freestyle wrestling as the separate discipline of "female wrestling".[8]

On some occasions, notably in the case of snowboarding, the IOC agreed to add sports which previously had a separate international federation to the Olympics on condition that they dissolve their governing body and instead affiliate with an existing Olympic sport federation, therefore not increasing the number of Olympic sports.

An event, by IOC definition, is a competition that leads to the award of medals. Therefore, the sport of aquatics includes a total of 46 Olympic events, of which 32 are in the discipline of swimming, eight in diving, and two each in synchronized swimming, water polo, and open water swimming. The number of events per sport ranges from a minimum of two (until 2008, there were sports with only one event) to a maximum of 47 in athletics, which despite its large number of events and its diversity is not divided into disciplines.

The list of Olympic sports has changed considerably during the course of Olympic history, and has gradually increased until the early 2000s, when the IOC decided to cap the number of sports in the Summer Olympics at 28.

The only summer sports that have never been absent from the Olympic program are athletics, aquatics (the discipline of swimming has been in every Olympics), cycling, fencing, and gymnastics (the discipline of artistic gymnastics has been in every Olympics).

The only winter sports that were included in all Winter Olympic Games are skiing (only nordic skiing), skating (figure skating and speed skating), and ice hockey. Figure skating and ice hockey were also included in the Summer Olympics before the Winter Olympics were introduced in 1924.

For most of the 20th century, demonstration sports were included in many Olympic Games, usually to promote a non-Olympic sport popular in the host country, or to gauge interest and support for the sport.[6] The competitions and ceremonies in these sports were identical to official Olympic sports, except that the medals were not counted in the official record. Some demonstration sports, like baseball and curling, were later added to the official Olympic program. This changed when the International Olympic Committee decided in 1989 to eliminate demonstration sports from Olympics Games after 1992.[9] An exception was made in 2008, when the Beijing Organizing Committee received permission to organize a wushu tournament.[10][11]

A sport or discipline may be included in the Olympic program if the IOC determines that it is widely practiced around the world, that is, the number of countries and continents that regularly compete in a given sport is the indicator of the sport's prevalence. The requirements for winter sports are considerably lower than for summer sports since many fewer nations compete in winter sports. The IOC also has lower requirements for inclusion of sports and disciplines for women for the same reason. Women are still barred from several disciplines; but on the other hand, there are women-only disciplines, such as rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming.

Sports that depend primarily on mechanical propulsion, such as motor sports, may not be considered for recognition as Olympic sports, though there were power-boating events in the early days of the Olympics before this rule was enacted by the IOC.[2][12] Part of the story of the founding of aviation sports' international governing body, the FAI, originated from an IOC meeting in Brussels, Belgium on June 10, 1905.[13]

These criteria are only a threshold for consideration as Olympic sport. In order to be admitted to the Olympic program, the IOC Session has to approve its inclusion. There are many sports that easily make the required numbers but are not recognized as Olympic sports, mainly because the IOC has decided to put a limit on the number of sports, as well as events and athletes, in the Summer Olympics in order not to increase them from the 28 sports, 300 events, and 10,000 athletes of the 2000 Summer Olympics.

No such limits exist in the Winter Olympics and the number of events and athletes continue to increase, but no sport has been added since 1998. The latest winter sport added to the Winter Olympics was curling in 1998.

Previous Olympic Games included sports which are no longer present on the current program, like polo and tug of war.[1] In the early days of the modern Olympics, the organizers were able to decide which sports or disciplines were included on the program, until the IOC took control of the program in 1924. As a result, a number of sports were on the Olympic program for relatively brief periods before 1924.[2] These sports, known as discontinued sports, were removed because of lack of interest or absence of an appropriate governing body, or because they became fully professional at the time that the Olympic Games were strictly for amateurs, as in the case of tennis.[2] Several discontinued sports, such as archery and tennis, were later readmitted to the Olympic program (in 1972 and 1984, respectively). Curling, which was an official sport in 1924 and then discontinued, was reinstated as Olympic sport in 1998.

The Olympic Charter decrees that Olympic sports for each edition of the Olympic Games should be decided at an IOC Session no later than seven years prior to the Games.

The only sports that have been dropped from the Olympics since 1936 are baseball and softball, which were both voted out by the IOC Session in Singapore on July 11, 2005,[14] a decision that was reaffirmed on February 9, 2006.[15] These sports were last included in 2008, although officially they remain recognized as Olympic sports in the Olympic Charter. Therefore, the number of sports in the 2012 Summer Olympics was dropped from 28 to 26.

Following the addition of women's boxing in 2012, and women's ski jumping in 2014, there are only Greco-Roman wrestling and nordic combined, respectively, that are only for men in those games.

Two previously discontinued sports, golf and rugby, returned for the 2016 Summer Olympics. On August 13, 2009, the IOC Executive Board proposed that golf and rugby sevens be added to the Olympic program for the 2016 Games.[16] On 9 October 2009, during the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen, the IOC voted to admit both sports as official Olympic sports and to include them in the 2016 Summer Olympics.[17] The IOC voted 81–8 in favor of including rugby sevens and 63–27 in favor of reinstating golf, thus bringing the number of sports back to 28.[17]

In February 2013, the IOC considered dropping a sport from the 2020 Summer Olympics to make way for a new sport. Modern pentathlon and taekwondo were thought to be vulnerable, but instead the IOC recommended dismissing wrestling.[18] On September 8, 2013, the IOC added wrestling to the 2020 and 2024 Summer Games.[19]

At the first Olympic Games, nine sports were contested.[21] Since then, the number of sports contested at the Summer Olympic Games has gradually risen to twenty-eight on the program for 2000â€“2008. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, however, the number of sports fell back to twenty-six following an IOC decision in 2005 to remove baseball and softball from the Olympic program. These sports retain their status as Olympic sports with the possibility of a return to the Olympic program in future games.[14] At the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen on 9 October 2009, the IOC voted to reinstate both golf and rugby to the Olympic program, meaning that the number of sports to be contested in 2016 was once again 28.[22]

In order for a sport or discipline to be considered for inclusion in the list of Summer Olympics sports, it must be widely practiced in at least 75 countries, spread over four continents.

The following sports (or disciplines of a sport) make up the current and discontinued Summer Olympic Games official program and are listed alphabetically according to the name used by the IOC. The discontinued sports were previously part of the Summer Olympic Games program as official sports, but are no longer on the current program. The figures in each cell indicate the number of events for each sport contested at the respective Games; a bullet (â€¢) denotes that the sport was contested as a demonstration sport.

Eight of the 34 sports consist of multiple disciplines. Disciplines from the same sport are grouped under the same color:

Aquatics –      Basketball –      Canoeing/Kayak –      Cycling –      Gymnastics –      Volleyball –      Equestrian –      Wrestling

The following sports or disciplines have been demonstrated at the Summer Olympic Games for the years shown, but have never been included on the official Olympic program:

Gliding was promoted from demonstration sport to an official Olympic sport in 1936 in time for the 1940 Summer Olympics, but the Games were cancelled due to the outbreak of World War II.[23][24]

Summer Olympic sports are divided into categories based on popularity, gauged by: television viewing figures (40%), Internet popularity (20%), public surveys (15%), ticket requests (10%), press coverage (10%), and number of national federations (5%). The category determines the share the sport's International Federation receives of Olympic revenue.[25][26]

The current categories, as of 2013, are as follows, with the pre-2013 categorizations also being available.[27] Category A represents the most popular sports; category E lists either the sports that are the least popular or that are new to the Olympics (golf and rugby).

Before 1924, when the first Winter Olympic Games were celebrated, sports held on ice, like figure skating and ice hockey, were held at the Summer Olympics.[28] These two sports made their debuts at the 1908 and the 1920 Summer Olympics, respectively, but were permanently integrated in the Winter Olympics program as of the first edition. The International Winter Sports Week, later dubbed the IÂ Olympic Winter Games and retroactively recognized as such by the IOC, consisted of nine sports. The number of sports contested at the Winter Olympics has since been decreased to seven, comprising a total of fifteen disciplines.[29]

A sport or discipline must be widely practiced in at least 25 countries on three continents in order to be included on the Winter Olympics program.[2]

The following sports (or disciplines of a sport) make up the current Winter Olympic Games official program and are listed alphabetically, according to the name used by the IOC. The figures in each cell indicate the number of events for each sport that were contested at the respective Games (the red cells indicate that those sports were held at the Summer Games); a bullet denotes that the sport was contested as a demonstration sport. On some occasions, both official medal events and demonstration events were contested in the same sport at the same Games.

Three out of the seven sports consist of multiple disciplines. Disciplines from the same sport are grouped under the same color:

Skating –      Skiing –      Bobsleigh

Military patrol was an official skiing event in 1924 but the IOC currently considers it an event of biathlon in those games, and not as a separate sport.

The following sports have been demonstrated at the Winter Olympic Games for the years shown, but have never been included on the official Olympic program:

Ice climbing was showcased in 2014, and will be demonstrated at the 2018 Winter Olympics, with a plan to be included official competition sport for the 2022 Winter Olympics.[30] Ski ballet, similarly to Military Patrol, was simply a demonstration event falling under the scope of freestyle skiing. Disabled sports are now part of the Winter Paralympic Games.

Many sports are not recognized as Olympic sports although their governing bodies are recognized by the IOC.[31] Such sports, if eligible under the terms of the Olympic Charter, may apply for inclusion in the program of future Games, through a recommendation by the IOC Olympic Programme Commission, followed by a decision of the IOC Executive Board and a vote of the IOC Session. When Olympic demonstration sports were allowed, a sport usually appeared as such before being officially admitted.[6] An International Sport Federation (IF) is responsible for ensuring that the sport's activities follow the Olympic Charter. When a sport is recognized the IF become an official Olympic sport federation and can assemble with other Olympic IFs in the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF, for summer sports contested in the Olympic Games), Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations (AIOWS, for winter sports contested in the Olympic Games) or Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF, for sports not contested in the Olympic Games).[1] A number of recognized sports are included in the program of the World Games, a multi-sport event run by the International World Games Association, an organization that operates under the patronage of the IOC. Since the start of the World Games in 1981, a number of sports, including badminton, taekwondo, and triathlon have all subsequently been incorporated into the Olympic program.

In 2020, the IOC altered the way it plans the Olympic Games from one based around a maximum number of sports, to taking total events into account, opening the schedule up for the inclusion on a Games by Games basis of additional sports to the 25 "core" sports. For the 2020 Summer Olympics, the local organizing committee was thus permitted to add a total of five sports to the programme in addition to the existing 28, taking the total to 33.[32][33]

The governing bodies of the following sports, though not contested in the Olympic Games, are recognized by the IOC:[34]

1 Official sport at the World Games
2 Discontinued Olympic sport
3 Ineligible to be included because the Olympic Charter bans sports with motorization elements
4 The governing bodies for baseball and softball merged into a single international federation in 2013.
5 Included at the 2020 Summer Olympics


saint row 4 game of the century edition

Saints Row IV was released in several summative editions.[29] The Game of the Century edition included 20 downloadable content sets and was released May 9, 2014.[30] The National Treasure Edition included 29 downloadable content sets and was released on July 8, 2014.[29] High Voltage Software ported the game to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One with all of its downloadable content as Saints Row IV: Re-Elected. It was announced in late August 2014 alongside Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell, a standalone Saints Row IV expansion developed by Volition in conjunction with High Voltage.[11] Both were released in North America on January 20, 2015, and worldwide three days later,[31] both separately and bundled together. The release included new features such as voice commands.[11] A Linux port was presented in December 2015.

Saints Row IV

Saints Row IV is an open world action-adventure video game developed by Volition and published by Deep Silver. It is the fourth title in the Saints Row series. In the game, the playable character is the leader of the 3rd Street Saints, a street gang that has become the world's most powerful and popular organization, and must fend off an alien invasion after becoming President of the United States and receiving superpowers. The player is free to explore their environment while completing main and side missions at their leisure. The game incorporates elements from science fiction video games and films, and continues the series' reputation for over-the-top parody. It was released in August 2013 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, and was later ported to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Linux in 2015.

The game was Volition's first after its sale to Koch Media in early 2013. The supernatural and superpower concept for the game started in Enter the Dominatrix, a cancelled expansion planned for Saints Row: The Third, which the team expanded into Saints Row IV. Volition later released a "director's cut" of Enter the Dominatrix as downloadable content for Saints Row IV alongside How the Saints Saved Christmas, other weapons, costumes, and vehicle packs, and a standalone expansion, Saints Row: Gat out of Hell (which serves as the epilogue to the story). Saints Row IV received several limited and summative edition releases, and was briefly banned in Australia. Critics praised Saints Row IV's humor and character customization options, but criticized for its lack of challenge and reusage of content from The Third.[citation needed] It sold over one million copies in its first week.

Similar to previous Saints Row series games,[1] Saints Row IV is an open world action game with third-person shooter elements wherein the player is free to explore the environment and, at their leisure, play story or side missions.[2] As the leader of the Saints, a street gang that has become the world's most "powerful and popular" organization, the player is elected President of the United States, receives superpowers, and fends off an alien invasion.[2] Most often the player will engage in shooting and racing activities, though other activities vary from fighting crowds of zombies, shoot-outs in tanks,[2] side-scrolling brawlers, fights against supersized, daikaiju energy drink cans, and using a dubstep gun to interrupt 1950s Americana.[3] The player-character receives elemental powers and superpowers that greatly increase their jump height and running speed, such that the player can hop over buildings and outrun vehicles.[2] The elemental powers include abilities to shoot fire and ice projectiles, telekinetically toss things, and create shockwaves upon landing jumps.[3] As the player progresses through the game, they can optionally upgrade their abilities and weapons skill tree[2] by using collectible "data clusters" scattered around town.[3] If the player becomes too rowdy, the alien race's police analogue will intervene.[3] As in previous games, the player-character's look and feel is entirely customizable via a robust character editor feature.[1]

The game is set in a nearly identical[1] simulation of Steelport, the fictional city setting from Saints Row: The Third,[3] though individual story missions have new, custom-designed levels.[1] Saints Row IV's story parodies science fiction video games, especially Mass Effect 2, as well as films like The Matrix and Zero Dark Thirty, and other "nerd culture".[2] Some story missions are propelled by individual characters' existential crises,[2] as each Saint character is stuck in a personal simulation of their own hell, and must be rescued by the player.[3] Other elements borrowed from video game culture include BioWare-style character romances games and a Metal Gear-style mission with an unhelpful partner.[3]

City districts are "liberated" from alien occupation as the player completes side missions in occupied districts.[3] Liberated districts increase the player's hourly income, which can be spent on weapons, skills, and perks. Side missions include Insurance Fraud (where the player jumps into traffic to collect insurance money),[3] demolition derby-style Mayhem, and superpowered foot races. Saints Row IV has a two-player cooperative mode.[1]

A few months after the events of Saints Row: The Third, The Boss, Shaundi and Pierce Washington are called upon to assist MI-6 agent Asha Odekar and her contact, reformed former Deckers leader Matt Miller, in infiltrating a Middle Eastern compound to assassinate former STAG leader Cyrus Temple and prevent a nuclear missile strike against Washington D.C. The Boss kills Cyrus, but is unable to stop him from launching the missile. Climbing aboard it, the Boss disarms the nuke before it reaches Washington, earning the adoration of America.

Five years later, The Boss has been elected President of the United States, with the other members of the Saints, Keith David and former Vice Kings leader Benjamin King acting as cabinet. While preparing for a press conference, the Boss is told that Asha and Matt have arrived at the White House to warn them of what they suspect is an impending alien invasion. Just as the Boss is informed, the invasion begins, spearheaded by the alien warlord Zinyak, who captures the entire cabinet, including the Boss.

The Boss wakes up in a 1950s sitcom set in the city of Pleasantville, devoid of violence and foul language. The Saints' computer hacking specialist, Kinzie Kensington, contacts the Boss and informs them that they are trapped inside a simulation, with each of the Zin's prisoners trapped inside personal simulations of their own fears in order to break their will. With Kinzie's help, the Boss breaks free of the simulation and joins Kinzie and Keith in a stolen Zin ship.

While the trio attempt to contact reinforcements from Earth, Zinyak atomizes the planet and then explodes, killing everyone not already captured by the Zin, including Oleg Kirlov, Josh, Zimos, and Viola. Enraged, the Boss returns to the Steelport simulation to find their friends and reach Zinyak. After rescuing another prisoner of Zinyak, an artificial intelligence later named CID, and providing him with a physical body, the Boss, with his help, goes into the other Saint's simulations and rescues them from their nightmares.

As the simulation begins to weaken under the Saints' influence, Zinyak floods virtual Steelport with copies of gang members the Boss has faced in the past. Kinzie determines that the copies are being made from someone's memory, leading the Boss to conclude Johnny Gat, who was seemingly killed during the events of Saints Row: The Third, is still alive and trapped within the simulation. Despite protests from Kinzie and Matt that rescuing Johnny will reveal their location to Zinyak, the Boss rescues Johnny from his nightmare of Aisha's death and gets him back to the ship. Johnny explains that during the fight in which he was presumed killed, he was actually abducted by Zinyak years in advance of their invasion, as Zinyak had concluded that Johnny could have single-handedly stopped him if left on Earth.

The Saints rally inside the simulation in order to confront Zinyak, but are ambushed by an enormous Zin force. They escape, but Kinzie is captured by Zinyak and the Boss emerges from the simulation to find that Keith betrayed the Saints and fled. Returning to Steelport, the Boss finds Keith has been declared president of the simulation. When confronted, Keith claims that Zinyak has the means to restore Earth, and has agreed to do so in exchange for the Boss' life. The Boss, determined to find Kinzie, pursues Keith into his nightmare, and with help from Roddy Piper, beats Keith up until he barely manages to tell them where Kinzie has been taken to, Keith ultimately comes to his senses and rejoins the Saints.

After the Boss rescues Kinzie from her nightmare, she devises a plan to crash the simulation, which will force the Zin to draw power from their ship to keep it running, thus weakening the ship itself and creating an opening for the Saints to enter. Working together, the remaining Saints manage to overload the simulation, shutting it down just as the Boss escapes. Assaulting Zinyak's ship, the Boss finds power armor emulating the powers they had in the simulation, and confronts Zinyak in his throne room. While the entire Zin Empire watches, Zinyak and the Boss battle each other. With help from the Saints, the Boss kills Zinyak by tearing his head off and emerges victorious. Impressed, the Zin forces surrender to the Boss, who becomes the new head of the Zin Empire.

The Boss asks Zinjai, Zinyak's main servant, for technology to bring Earth back. Zinjai says they cannot restore Earth, but can use time-travel technology to return to Earth, explaining that Zinyak had used this technology to collect his favorite historical figures, keeping them in suspended animation. The Boss looks at the Saints and says, "Let's go on a field trip." In a post-credits scene, the nineteenth century writer Jane Austen, whom the Boss is a fan of, is woken out of her stasis, revealing that she had been the narrator throughout the game.

If all of the loyalty missions have not been completed, an alternate ending out plays out, which sees the Saints make plans to take over more planets, unaware of their ability to use the technology.

A number of characters from earlier games in the franchise - both members of the Third Street Saints and former adversaries - make a return in Saints Row IV, many of whom take up the protagonist's Presidential administration. Kinzie Kensington, the socially awkward FBI hacker from Saints Row: The Third becomes the White House's press secretary, often tasked with clearing up the mess left behind by the President's verbal missteps. Benjamin King, former leader of the Vice Kings gang from the original Saints Row, becomes the President's Chief of Staff, while Pierce Washington has been appointed the Communications Director and Shaundi as the Director of the Secret Service.

Matt Miller, having abandoned the Deckers and, according to news broadcasts in Saints Row: The Third, announced an abstinence from the use of technology, presumably returned to the United Kingdom and became employed by MI-6 alongside new character Asha Odekar. Johnny Gat also returns after being thought dead in Saints Row: The Third. Stilwater, the location of the first two games, makes an appearance for one mission with most of the street gangs from the first three games making appearances as well.

After the release of Saints Row: The Third, preliminary work on a game called Saints Row: Part Four began. The game would take place after the events of The Third in a new city and feature gameplay similar to The Third.[4] Meanwhile a standalone expansion to The Third called Enter the Dominatrix was first announced as a 2012 April Fool's joke,[5] but still went into development. The expansion pack's basic concept included a superpowered player-character trapped by alien commander Zinyak in a simulation of Steelport.[6] With THQ suffering financially, its president Jason Rubin encouraged company subsidiary and Saints Row series developer Volition to grow elements from the expansion into a full game.[7] The company announced this change in direction in June 2012,[8] cancelling Saints Row: Part Four and expanding Enter the Dominatrix into a full sequel, Saints Row IV.[7] The company's strategy was partly to avoid sales issues by releasing the game in August 2013, prior to the circulation of rumors about next generation video game consoles.[7] Volition was sold to Koch Media in early 2013 when its parent company, THQ, filed for bankruptcy. It became Koch's first internal video game studio. The studio officially announced Saints Row IV two months later, which was published by Koch Media brand Deep Silver. Acquired without rights to their Red Faction series, Volition's new goals were to make connected, open world games where "the player is an agent of mayhem". The entire company worked on the one game.[7]

Each of the Saints Row series games had a core intent, and while the first three games built on the first's "outlandishness and irreverence", the fourth focused on "the supernatural and superpowers".[9] Senior producer Jim Boone recalled reviewers that asked whether the company could be "more over-the-top" than Saints Row: The Third, which they took as a challenge.[7] The team focused more on making the game "fun" than "for the sake of being over the top", and felt that superpowers helped the game's basic navigation and combat.[7] They also chose to remove the previous game's in-game mobile phone-based navigation, which hindered its narration, and replaced it with a "quest log structure".[7] The team chose not to devote as much time improving the game's graphics, considering the impending release of next generation platforms. The game spent less time in development than prior series games.[7]

In August 2014, Volition announced that they would be releasing a development kit for the Windows version of the game, which lets players modify game assets[10] and create new weapons.[11]

The in-game radio has seven pre-programmed radio stations and 109 licensed tracks. The game's original soundtrack is composed by Malcolm Kirby Jr.,[12] who also composed the previous game's soundtrack.[13]

On November 2016, the PC version included Steam Workshop, allowing players to release a wide number of mods such as characters and weapons included in the game.

Saints Row IV was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 in North America on August 20, 2013, and worldwide on three days later.[14] Preorders included a patriot-themed downloadable content pack that included flamethrower, dubstep, and rocket launcher weapons, a bald eagle jet, and an Uncle Sam outfit.[15] A limited edition release of the game included a replica of the game's dubstep gun, a doomsday button, and Johnny Gat statuette.[16] Another limited edition release, the Game of the Generation Edition, included the previous items as well as a display case for the game.[14] The game was originally refused ratings classification and effectively banned in Australia,[17] but was later accepted when modified to remove an optional mission[18] that involved an anal probe weapon and incentivized drug use.[19] The country's PlayStation 4 release was later recalled due to a classification error.[20]

The game received multiple downloadable content packs. A Season Pass, which features two new mission packs and the aforementioned anal probe weapon, was announced prior to the game's release. The first mission pack, Enter the Dominatrix,[21] was released October 22, 2013.[22] The pack was originally intended as a mission pack for Saints Row: The Third but evolved into the full sequel, Saints Row IV. The leftover content became the sequel's first mission pack.[23][24] It tells an alternative story about the Zin invasion wherein the Steelport simulation is hijacked by a rogue artificial intelligence called the Dominatrix. The pack's storytelling frequently breaks the fourth wall and self-referentially acknowledges its own plot holes and incongruence with the larger Saints Row story.[25] Some scenes end in concept art or videos of Volition employees acting out the drama so as to give the game an unfinished feel. The pack also casts characters from Saints Row: The Third who did not return in the sequel.[25] There are five missions in total,[26] new weapons, vehicles, and computer-controlled support characters ("homies").[25] The second and final mission pack, How the Saints Save Christmas, features new weapons and vehicles and a plot to save Santa Claus from the Steelport simulation. It was released in December 2013.[27] Non-mission downloadable content packs include new costumes, vehicles, and weapons, e.g., face masks of United States Presidents George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.[28]

The game received generally positive reviews, according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.[35][36][37] Reviewers praised its over-the-top humor and character customization options,[1][2] and criticized its lack of challenge.[1][3] Several also commented on its "even-handed treatment" of gender, particularly female characters,[2][3] and spotlighted hacker and former FBI agent Kinzie Kensington's character performance.[1][3] Saints Row IV sold over one million copies in its first week,[28] and as of 2013, Volition has not released total sales figures.[40]

Polygon's Danielle Riendeau described Saints Row IV as "big, goofy, and self-referential fun" and thought that the game accomplished what it set out to be: "an outrageous exercise in player power fantasy".[2] She also praised the game's degree of freedom around character identity, its "dumb and lovable" narrative, and its transitions between varied sequences. Riendeau wrote that Volition "trimmed the fat" from previous games, and that their addition of superpowers "blew the constraints off a genre already known for player freedom".[2] She considered the story funny and "as obvious as can be", but found its characters "well-realized".[2] Riendeau particularly praised the game's "treatment of gender"—bold female characters who could pursue same-sex relationships or even switch their gender mid-game, and were not treated differently for being female—but found the game's continued association between women and sex workers "problematic" and a "vestige from the series' roots as a juvenile crime drama".[2]

Reflecting on the series' progression, Eurogamer's Chris Schilling said that Saints Row IV successfully reinvented the series yet again, with superpowers replacing the usefulness of in-game vehicles. He compared the game's exploration mechanics to that of Crackdown, and its superpowers to the Infamous and Prototype series, and added that the game's silliness fulfilled a specific niche in gaming. Schilling wrote that the need to restock at ammo shops was a "jarring holdover" from the previous games, but appreciated the recurrence of elements such as the GPS navigation system, side mission gameplay, and city district liberation.[3] He regarded the game overall as artful but "gloriously dumb", like "the Sistine Chapel ceiling of stupidity".[3] Schilling also commented on how he felt an urge to simply forgo the story to search for collectibles, though despite these options, the game became "wearying" over long play sessions.[3]

Similarly, Dan Stapleton of IGN became bored when his superhero protagonist had little "to overcome", and ultimately likened the game to "enabling god-like cheat codes" in its predecessor.[1] He wrote that it was very difficult to die, given the large amount of power-ups dropped by enemies, and that the otherwise praiseworthy features from Saints Row: The Third felt "vestigial" when outmoded by superpowers.[1] Stapleton said the player received the powers too early, which let the player play without caring about the city, and thus removed the "sense of place and character it had in the previous game".[1] He considered the game's large number of collectibles an acknowledgement of this hole, which while originally rewarding, quickly becomes a "chore".[1] Stapleton praised the Red Faction-style Disintegrator and Abductor guns, though considered the dubstep gun an "ineffective disappointment".[1] As a symbol, though, Polygon described the dubstep gun as "iconic" of Saints Row IV.[41]


when did getting jiggy with it come out

"Gettin' Jiggy wit It" is a single by American actor and rapper Will Smith, released as the third cut from his debut solo album Big Willie Style (1997). The verse is based around a sample of "He's the Greatest Dancer" by Sister Sledge, and the chorus is sampled from "Sang and Dance" by the Bar-Kays. Released in January 1998, the song was Smith's second hit produced by Poke & Tone and L.E.S., who replaced his long-time partner Jazzy Jeff, though the record-scratching techniques of Jazzy Jeff can be heard in the song.[1]

Gettin' Jiggy wit It

The song spent three weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart from March 14, 1998. It also won a Grammy Award in 1999 for the Best Rap Solo Performance. It was ranked the 68th greatest song of the 1990s by VH1. However, it was ranked at #19 on the list of AOL Radio's 100 Worst Songs Ever in 2010.[2] The song was included in Pitchfork Media's 2010 list of "the seven worst U.S. No. 1 singles of the 90s".[3]

The song samples the 1979 Sister Sledge song "He's the Greatest Dancer". The "mama-uh, mama-uh, mama come closer" line is a reference to the song "Soul Makossa" by Manu Dibango, specifically the version adapted by Michael Jackson in "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"'s final bridge. The connotations associated with the expression getting jiggy were heavily influenced by this single. The term went from being used to acclaim one's fashion or style towards being synonymous with dancing, and eventually back to the original association with sexual connotations.[4]

Smith has attested in an interview[5] that his inspiration to alter the meaning for the purpose of the song came from his association of the term "jiggy" with "jigaboo", a derogatory term for African-Americans, which made the literal meaning of the title "getting African-American with it" and which was meant to reference the popular folk-myth of an innate sense of rhythm in black folks. The co-opting of a once offensive word also was racially empowering.[5]

The song was also sampled by a Russian pop group Hi-Fi in their 1999 song "Pro Leto" (translated as "About Summer").

Since the song's release, many people have speculated if Nas helped compose "Gettin' Jiggy wit It", as he also helped compose the songs "Chasing Forever", "Yes Yes Y'all" and "Just Cruisin'" for Smith. In April 2014 on the social networking site Reddit, Nas finally put the rumor to rest:

"Alright, let's clear this up once and for all. I hung out with Will in the studio. And watched him write it. It was a fun studio session, and I said a line or two or three to him. It wasn't that serious. Will Smith wrote that song. But seriously, I watched him have fun making that record on his own, and Will is a true MC."[6]

The music video was directed by Hype Williams[7][8][9] and was filmed at various hotels on the Las Vegas Strip, including the New York-New York Hotel & Casino, The Mirage, and the foyer of the Luxor Hotel.

The video features a series of tableaux including a Deee-Lite-inspired sequence, a choreographed studio dance routine, a sequence set in Ancient Egypt and a volcano-backed Hawaiian/ Māori segment. The video closes with Smith dancing beneath the Statue of Liberty replica at the New York-New York Hotel and Casino.

"Gettin' Jiggy wit It" won the 1998 MTV Video Music Award for Best Rap Video. The song was also nominated for four additional awards, including Best Choreography, Viewer's Choice, Best Dance Video, and Video of the Year, but these further nominations were lost to Madonna for her song "Ray of Light".

The song as well as the phrase "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" has been used and parodied in popular culture ever since its release. In the animated MTV series Daria, characters can be seen dancing to the song, in an episode released mere weeks after the song's release. In the 1999 film Superstar, lead character Mary Catherine Gallagher gets advice from Jesus Christ, played by Will Ferrell, telling her to "Get jiggy wit it, Na na na na na na". In the Seinfeld episode "The Reverse Peephole", Jerry is disappointed at not being selected as DJ for a house party, stating, "I was ready to get jiggy with it."[10] The song is also featured in the video game Backyard Football '08.

The song has also been spoofed and covered by various artists. DJ Screw created a "Chopped and Screwed" version of the song. Jam band Phish covered the song on their 1999 album Hampton Comes Alive. King Crimson referred to the song in "The World's My Oyster Soup Kitchen Floor Wax Museum" on 2000's the construKction of light album. Cassetteboy released a short spoof version of the song in the wake of the 2015 Piggate scandal (the allegation that the British Prime Minister David Cameron once placed "a private part of his anatomy" into the mouth of a dead pig's head) entitled Gettin Piggy With It.[11]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone


who sings wherever i lay my hat that's my home

"Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)" is a song written by Marvin Gaye, Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield, and first recorded by Gaye in 1962. It was the B-side to his 1969 hit "Too Busy Thinking 'Bout My Baby". Nearly two decades later, Paul Young's version of the song was a UK No. 1 single for three weeks in July 1983.[1]

Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)

4:52 (7" Version)[3]
5:18 (Album version)[4]

The Paul Young version, from the album No Parlez, is stylistically notable for its use of fretless bass, played by Pino Palladino. Though a major UK hit that broke Young as a star, the song fared less well on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 70, but was later used in the 1986 film Ruthless People and its accompanying soundtrack album.

In a retrospective review, Allmusic journalist Dave Thompson wrote that Young's version of the song "left mouths hanging open in awe" and described it as "a beautifully impassioned take on what was, in all fairness, never one of Marvin Gaye's greatest performances."[6]

In the opening bass line, Palladino quotes the bassoon melody at the opening of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring.[7]