Some of New York City's most abundant natural resources include forests and lakes. A fully grown tree can be chopped down for fire wood, used to make furniture, used as fuel or to make paper. Trees also store water that can be released into the atmosphere, keeping moisture in the air. The roots of the trees help hold the soil together stopping erosion so more plants can grow. And if you didn't think they were crucial enough already, trees help trap carbon dioxide a greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases can trap heat from the sun and contribute to global warming. In a lot of cities deforestation is a problem. Deforestation causes soil erosion, flooding and contributes to climate change. But, the people of New York City are doing really well and making their situation even better by planting trees and plants to increase the amount of forest area. A tree in a temperate region can absorb 13kg of CO2 per year so each tree has a huge impact. We all rely mostly on lakes for our drinking water and our entire food system relies on it too. Brine mining is a problem as well though, the drilling and transport of the brine solutions can disrupt existing ecosystems and leak into nearby bodies of water and there is no current plan to clean up existing contamination.
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