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LOCATIONNew York, the 27th biggest state in the U.S., is situated in the northeastern

part of the country.

ARCHITECTURE The building form most closely associated with New York City is the 

skyscraper, which has controversially shifted many commercial and residential districts from low-rise to high-rise. Surrounded mostly by water, the city has amassed one of the largest and most varied collection of skyscrapers in the world.

New York has architecturally significant buildings in a wide range of styles spanning distinct historical and cultural periods. These include the Woolworth Building (1913), an early Gothic revival skyscraper with large-scale gothic architectural detail.

The character of New York's large residential districts is often defined by the elegant brownstone rowhouses, townhouses, and shabby tenements that were built during a period of rapid expansion from 1870 to 1930.[5] In contrast, New York City also has neighborhoods that are less densely populated and feature free-standing dwellings.

Stone and brick became the city's building materials of choice after the construction of wood-frame houses was limited in the aftermath of the Great Fire of 1835.Unlike Paris, which for centuries was built from its own limestone bedrock, New York has always drawn its building stone from a far-flung network of quarries and its stone buildings have a variety of textures and hues.

HISTORY OF NATURAL OR ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTERS

When the peace of a community is shattered by man-made disaster – an oil spill, a toxic gas leak, a nuclear meltdown – a scar is left that may fade with passing decades but will never fully heal. While some may be able to clean up and return to a sense of normalcy,

others stand fenced-off and unchanged like a silent memorial. Located around the globe,

these seven catastrophic environmental disasters have had a profound effect upon

the earth and local residents that continues today, as many as 50 years later.

THREE MILE ISLAND NUCLEAR MELTDOWN• The Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor, near Middletown, Pa.,

partially melted down on March 28, 1979. This was the most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history, although its small radioactive releases had no detectable health effects on plant workers or the public. Its aftermath brought about sweeping changes involving emergency response planning, reactor operator training, human factors engineering, radiation protection, and many other areas of nuclear power plant operations. It also caused the NRC to tighten and heighten its regulatory oversight. All of these changes significantly enhanced U.S. reactor safety.

• A combination of equipment malfunctions, design-related problems and worker errors led to TMI-2's partial meltdown and very small off-site releases of radioactivity

MINAMATA MERCURY POISONING• IT’S NOT COMMON KNOWLEDGE AMONGST WESTERNERS, BUT THE MINAMATA

MERCURY INCIDENT IN JAPAN WAS SEVERE ENOUGH TO GET A DISEASE NAMED AFTER IT. A CHEMICAL COMPANY CALLED CHISSO CORPORATION DISPOSED OF THOUSANDS OF TONS OF INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER CONTAINING METHYL MERCURY IN THE TOWN OF MINAMATA FROM 1908 TO 1968, WHICH POISONED THE LOCAL POPULATION THROUGH CONSUMPTION OF CONTAMINATED SEAFOOD.

• WHAT’S NOW KNOWN AS MINAMATA DISEASE WAS DISCOVERED IN 1956, WHEN CLUSTERS OF VICTIMS IN FISHING HAMLETS ALONG THE BAY CAME FORWARD WITH STRANGE SYMPTOMS. SEVERE CASES OF THE DISEASE LED TO PARALYSIS, INSANITY, COMA AND DEATH WITHIN WEEKS OF SYMPTOMS FIRST APPEARING. SIMILAR EFFECTS WERE SEEN IN LOCAL ANIMALS LIKE CATS AND BIRDS.

• OVER 2,265 VICTIMS HAVE BEEN OFFICIALLY CERTIFIED BY THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT – 1,784 OF WHOM HAVE DIED – BUT OVER 17,000 PEOPLE HAVE APPLIED FOR CERTIFICATION. CHISSO CORPORATION, WHICH STOPPED USING MERCURY IN 1969, HAS SPENT $86 MILLION COMPENSATING OVER 10,000 VICTIMS AND WAS ORDERED TO CLEAN UP THE CONTAMINATION IN 2004.

EXXON - VALDEZ OIL SPILL

• Who can forget the Exxon-Valdez oil spill? 11 million gallons of sticky black crude oil fouled the pristine Prince William Sound in Alaska on March 23rd, 1989 after a tanker crashed into an iceberg as the captain napped. While it’s far from the largest oil spill in history, it caused the most environmental damage, and images of wildlife suffocating in oil hit the public hard.

• 10,000 workers spent four summers cleaning up 1,400 miles of coastline, and recent images of Prince William Sound seem to show total recovery. But swaths of oil are still buried just beneath the surface of many beaches and many species affected by the spill are still struggling. If there’s one positive thing that came out of this disaster, it’s the federal Oil Pollution Act, which changed critical industry practices and standards to prevent similar damage from subsequent spills.

TVA COAL SLUDGE SPILL

• America’s worst man-made environmental disaster occurred on December 22nd, 2008 at the Kingston Tennessee Valley Authority power plant as 5.4 million cubic yards of toxic coal sludge burst over a dam wall, invading the Emory River and 400 acres of nearby homes and farmland.

• Coal ash, a waste product, contains arsenic and potentially carcinogenic heavy metals, yet is not regulated by the EPA. That was supposed to change within a year of the spill, but the agency has delayed action. Meanwhile, experts say the spill could have severe lasting health effects for area residents.

• TVA estimated that it would have all 2.4 million cubic yards out of the area by 2013, but announced in March 2010that a complete cleanup is “technologically impossible.

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UTION Become less reliant on your car. It's not just turning on

your ignition and driving to the supermarket that pollutes the air. It's all the energy that goes into creating cars and

the roads we drive them on. The manufacturing of car parts, the production of fuel, the creation of roads, and the emissions from burning fuel all play a part in polluting the air. If you travel a lot in cars, driving less is a major step you can take twork instead of driving by yourself every

day.When you do drive, spend as little time idling as possible. Make sure your car is in tip top condition - full tires, etc. -

so that you're getting the best gas mileage possibleo help stop air pollution.Don't purchase more cars than

you need.Buy used cars that pass emissions tests, rather than

purchasing a brand new cars frequently.Maybe you can't give up your car entirely, but try to find

creative ways to use it less. For example, instead of driving to the store every day to pick up a few things, drive there

once a week and stock up on everything you need.Carpool to school or

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Use alternate means of transportation. You don't have to live in New York City to take public transportation to get from one place to the next. Wherever you live, look into the subway, bus or train system that will take you were you want to go. Start replacing your car commute with public transportation as often as possible. You'll save money while you do your part to reduce air pollution.[1]Biking is another great way to get around without polluting the air at all. Look into your town's bike lane system. And plan out routes you can take to work and school.Don't overlook the power of walking, either. While you might not be able to walk everywhere you want to go, you'd be surprised how many places are within walking distance. If a place is within a five minute drive from your house, you can probably walk there. You'll just need to plan to spend more time getting where you need to go.

Reduce your waste. Plastic and cardboard packaging that coms with food, cleaning supplies, clothes, and other store-bought items creates a lot of waste - both when the packaging is manufactured, and after you throw it away. Making as many of your own products from scratch as possible can really cut back on the pollutants used in packaging. Here are a few easy ways to cut back on waste:Buy food in bulk.Buy or grow fresh produce instead of getting it canned or frozen.Make food from scratch as often as possible, instead of buying microwavable meals or single serving snacks.Make your own shampoo, toothpaste, soap, and cleaning supplies.Instead of throwing away your food scraps, compost them.Recycle plastic, paper, and glass.

WATER POLLUTION

Don't use pesticides and herbicides. These powerful chemicals are sprayed directly over the ground, and when it rains they seep deeper and get into the groundwater. You probably just want aphids to stop eating your tomatoes, but spraying the garden with pesticide will do a lot more than that when it gets into the groundwater that humans and other organisms need to survive.Grow an organic garden instead. There are plenty of organic solutions to pest and weed infestations. They might take a little more work, but they'll keep the groundwater clean and keep your food clean, too.

Use fewer chemicals. Chemicals we use to wash our homes, cars and even our bodies get washed down the drain and into the sewer system, but they often end up in the water supply. These chemicals aren't good for the plants and animals that make up our ecosystems, and they aren't healthy for human consumption, either. Whenever possible, use natural, healthy alternatives to chemicals.[3]For example, instead of using a heavy-duty cleaner to scrub your bathroom or kitchen, use a mixture of vinegar and water or a baking soda and salt paste. These natural household supplies get the job done just as well, and they won't pollute the water when you wash them down the drain.

Try making your own laundry detergent and dish soap. If you don't have the time, buy detergent made with all-natural ingredients.

When you can't find a good alternative to a toxic item, use the least amount you can get away with and still get the job done.

LAND POLLUTION

Proper solid waste disposal like sanitary landfill.

Using limited amounts of fertilizers and pesticides.

Avoiding polythene bags.

It is high time we realized that we need the environment for our own survival and for the survival of other life

forms. Hence, we must learn to respect nature and try not to disrupt its ecological balance

MADE BY-

Ramneek Singh9-C