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Environment of New York City

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Feral pigeons on the Empire State Building

The environment of New York City consists of many interwoven ecosystems as part of the New York–New Jersey Harbor Estuary. The climate of New York City shapes the environment with its cool, wet winters and hot, humid summers with plentiful rainfall all year round. As of 2020, New York City held 44,509 acres of urban tree canopy with 24% of its land covered in trees.[1][2] As of 2020, the population of New York City numbered 8.8 million human beings.[3]

Climate

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Flooded South Ferry/Whitehall Street station in Manhattan during Hurricane Sandy
See also: Climate of New York City and Climate change in New York City

The climate of New York City features a humid subtropical variety, with parts of the city transitioning into a humid continental climate, giving the city cool, wet winters and hot, humid summers with plentiful rainfall all year round.[4]

In September 1821, a hurricane moved up the east coast of the United States, producing a 13 ft (4.0 m) rise of water – storm surge – in the span of one hour at Battery Park. Water levels reached as far inland as Canal Street.[5] The next hurricane in the city was in August 1893, which knocked down power and telegraph lines, and destroyed several houses.[6] During Hurricane Hazel in 1954, winds at The Battery reached 113 mph (182 km/h).[7] A nor'easter in December 1992 produced record high tides, with a water level of 8.04 ft (2.45 m) at The Battery.[8] Floods inundated low-lying areas, and at least 50 cars on Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive required rescue.[8][9] The 1992 storm was surpassed by former Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, which rose water levels to 14.06 ft (4.29 m) above the average low tide. Floodwaters covered about 17% of New York City, imparting about $19 billion in damage, including $5 billion to transportation infrastructure. The floods affected the homes of more than 443,000 people and more than 23,400 businesses. There were 43 deaths in the city related to Sandy.[10][11] In September 2021, former Hurricane Ida set a rainfall record when it dropped 3.15 inches (8.0 cm) of precipitation in one hour.[12] The storm killed 13 people in the city, several of them due to drowning in basement apartments. Floods also shut down roads and the subway.[13]

The hottest day on record in the city was July 9, 1936, when Central Park recorded a high temperature of 106 °F (41 °C).[14] A heat wave in August 1896 killed 1,500 people in the city.[15] The coldest day on record was February 9, 1934, with a temperature of −15 °F (−26 °C).[16] In March 1888, a blizzard dropped 21 in (530 mm) of snowfall, killing 200 people across the city.[17] A tropical storm in 1882 dropped 8.28 in (210 mm) of rainfall on September 23, which was the wettest calendar day on record, going back to 1869.[18][19] A January 2016 blizzard dropped 30.5 in (77 cm) of snowfall at JFK airport, the highest amount recorded from a single storm.[20] There have been at least 12 tornadoes in the city since 1974.[21]

Ecosystems

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See also: List of New York City parks and List of tree species in New York City

As New York City grew into a city, the surrounding environment was altered by the growing demands of the human population. The ecosystem of New York City is consistently maintained to support a growing population in the city. In the last 400 years since the original ecological systems as researched by the Mannahatta Project, the growth and development of the New York City water supply system, the New York City waste management system, Transportation in New York City, and Food and water in New York City has greatly altered the environment of New York City.

In 2017, CCNY entomologist and Professor of Biology David Lohman discovered a new species of fly living in Central Park.[22] The fly, Themira lohmanus, has evolved to only breed on duck dung.[22]

Pollution

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Photograph of skyscrapers seen from a great height, surrounded by smog. Unlike the previous photo of the 1966 smog, no horizon can be seen as the entire sky is blotted out by the smog. If the prior photo's vantage point seems to be "above" a blanket of smog, this photo is completely underneath and within it.
A view toward the Chrysler Building from the Empire State Building during a six-day smog in November 1953, estimated to have caused at least 200 deaths.[23]
Main article: Environmental issues in New York City
See also: List of Superfund sites in New York

New York's population density has environmental pros and cons. It facilitates the highest mass transit use in the United States, but also concentrates pollution. Gasoline consumption in the city is at the rate the national average was in the 1920s,[24] and greenhouse gas emissions are a fraction of the national average, at 7.1 metric tons per person per year, below San Francisco, at 11.2 metric tons, and the national average, at 24.5 metric tons.[25] New York City accounts for only 1% of United States greenhouse gas emissions while housing 2.7% of its population.[25] In September 2012, New York was named the #1 "America's Dirtiest City," by a Travel+Leisure readership survey that rated the environmental quality of 35 prominent cities in the United States.

Waste management

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See also: New York City's waste management system

New York City's waste management system is a refuse removal system primarily run by the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY). The department maintains the waste collection infrastructure and hires public and private contractors who remove the city's waste. This waste, created by New York City's population of more than eight million, can amount to more than ten thousand tons a day.[26][27][28][29]

Waste management has been an issue for New York City since its New Amsterdam days.[30] As a 1657 New Amsterdam ordinance states, “It has been found, that within this City of Amsterdam in New Netherland many burghers and inhabitants throw their rubbish, filth, ashes, dead animals and suchlike things into the public streets to the great inconvenience of the community".[31][30]

Horticulture

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See also: List of New York City gardens

The Lenape peoples who inhabited the greater NYC area directly prior to European colonization cultivated the environment and land they lived on in New York City, historians believe they planted sunflowers at the edges of the maize fields alongside their villages. In addition, they relied on the many trees growing on what is now New York City for food, shelter, tool materials, fuel, and medicine.[32] The typical Lenape house, called a longhouse, relied on the bending of the trunks taken from small trees to create a series of arches to serve as the frame.[32] The Lenape used the Zanthoxylum americanum tree as medicine for toothaches because chewing on the leaves or bark creates a tingling, or numbing effect in the mouth.[33]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "MillionTreesNYC – NYC Tree Facts". www.milliontreesnyc.org. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  2. ^ Foderaro, Lisa W. (2011-10-18). "As City Plants Trees, Some Say a Million Are Too Many". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  3. ^ "Table PL-P1 NYC: Total Population New York City and Boroughs, 2000 and 2010" (PDF). nyc.gov. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  4. ^ Peel, M.C.; Finlayson, B.L. "World Map of Köppen-Geiger climate classification". The University of Melbourne. Archived from the original on January 13, 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  5. ^ Aaron Naparstek (2005-07-20). "The Big One for New York City". The New York Press. Archived from the original on 30 December 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
  6. ^ "Swept by Wind and Rain". The New York Times. August 25, 1893. Archived from the original on 2018-07-26. Retrieved 2017-05-03 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon. Alt URL
  7. ^ "Hurricane Hazel, October 15, 1954".
  8. ^ a b Thomas P. Suro (2008-09-17). "Maximum tide elevations prior to and during December 11–12, 1992, in New Jersey" (PDF). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  9. ^ Brian A. Colle; et al. (June 2008). "New York City's Vulnerability to Coastal Flooding". Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 89 (6). American Meteorological Society: 829–842. Bibcode:2008BAMS...89..829C. doi:10.1175/2007BAMS2401.1.
  10. ^ "A Stronger, More Resilient New York". NYC Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency. Office of the NYC Mayor. June 11, 2013. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  11. ^ Blake, Eric S; Kimberlain, Todd B; Berg, Robert J; Cangialosi, John P; Beven II, John L; National Hurricane Center (February 12, 2013). Hurricane Sandy: October 22 – 29, 2012 (PDF) (Tropical Cyclone Report). United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
  12. ^ Hurricane Ida: New York Gets as Much Rain in an Hour as Chicago Averages in a Month, NBC 5 Chicago, September 1, 2021
  13. ^ Waller, Derick (September 3, 2021). "13 dead from Ida flooding in NYC, most in basement apartments; DOB to investigate". WABC Eyewitness News. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  14. ^ "So Hot That". The New York Times. 10 July 2010.
  15. ^ "The Heat Wave of 1896 and the Rise of Roosevelt". NPR.org.
  16. ^ Stout, David (6 February 1996). "But What About February 9, 1934 . ." The New York Times.
  17. ^ "Worst snowstorms in New York City history". New York Daily News. 7 January 2022.
  18. ^ "Historic Flooding, Destructive Tornadoes Hit Tri-State; NYC Issued 1st-Ever Flash Flood Emergency". 30 August 2021.
  19. ^ David Roth & Hugh Cobb. "Virginia Hurricane History". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived from the original on January 8, 2008. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
  20. ^ Ian Livingston (2021-12-04) [2016-01-25]. "The 12 best meteorological images of the Blizzard of 2016". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 1330888409.[please check these dates]
  21. ^ "NYC's Risk Landscape" (PDF). New York City Emergency Management. November 2014. p. 89.
  22. ^ a b York, The City College of New (2017). "New Central Park fly species gets CCNY professor's moniker". The City College of New York. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  23. ^ Iglauer, Edith (April 13, 1968). "The Ambient Air". The New Yorker. The New Yorker Magazine, Inc.
  24. ^ Jervey, Ben (2006). The Big Green Apple: Your Guide to Eco-Friendly Living in New York City. Globe Pequot Press. ISBN 978-0-7627-3835-9.
  25. ^ a b New York City Office of Long-term Planning and Sustainability (April 2007). "Inventory of New York City Greenhouse Gas Emissions" (PDF). Retrieved April 11, 2007.
  26. ^ "Garbage Gridlock". City Journal. 2015-12-23. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
  27. ^ "DSNY - The City of New York Department of Sanitation". www1.nyc.gov. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
  28. ^ The Editorial Board (2019-10-29). "Opinion | Why New York Can't Pick Up Its Trash". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
  29. ^ Nagle, Robin. (2013). Picking up : on the streets and behind the trucks with the sanitation workers of New York City (1st ed.). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-29929-3. OCLC 795174388.
  30. ^ a b Goodyear, Sarah (5 December 2014). "Life Inside the Drunk, Rowdy World of New Amsterdam". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
  31. ^ "Talking Trash: A History of New York City Sanitation". The Bowery Boys: New York City History. 2019-08-09. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
  32. ^ a b "Facts for Kids: Lenni Lenape Indian Tribe (Delaware Indians, Lenapes)". www.bigorrin.org. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  33. ^ "The Truth About Trees". Urban Omnibus. 2019-03-13. Retrieved 2020-04-24.

Further reading

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  • Burnstein. Daniel Eli. Next to Godliness: Confronting Dirt and Despair in Progressive Era New York City (University of Illinois Press, 2006)
  • Dow, J. (2020, October 19). Environmental racism in the Bronx: Why the asthma rate is so high in the borough. PIX 11 New York.
  • Glenna, Leland L. "Value-laden technocratic management and environmental conflicts: The case of the New York City watershed controversy." Science, technology, & human values 35.1 (2010): 81–112. online
  • Hershkowitz, Allen. Bronx ecology: Blueprint for a new environmentalism (Island Press, 2002) online.
  • Kiechle, Melanie A. "The air we breathe": nineteenth-century Americans and the search for fresh air" (PhD. Diss. Rutgers University-Graduate School-New Brunswick, 2012) online.
  • Lifset, Robert D. Power on the Hudson: Storm King Mountain and the Emergence of Modern American Environmentalism (2014)
  • Owen, David. "Green Manhattan." The New Yorker 80.31 (2004): 111–23. online
  • Pfeffer, Max J., and J. Mayone Stycos. "Immigrant environmental behaviors in New York city." Social Science Quarterly 83.1 (2002): 64–81.
  • Preston, Christopher J., and Steven H. Corey. "Public health and environmentalism: Adding garbage to the history of environmental ethics." Environmental ethics 27.1 (2005): 3-21.
  • Rochard, Hugo. "Civic environmentalism and urban renaturation politics: case studies from the greater Paris and New York City." Journée du LIEPP 2021. online
  • Zimring, Carl A.; Corey, Steven H., eds. (2021). Coastal Metropolis: Environmental Histories of Modern New York City. Pittsburgh, Pa. ISBN 978-0-8229-8798-7. OCLC 1241662670.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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