You may be surprised to learn that the site of New York City is a geological hotspot, located at the eastern edge of North America where continents fused and rifted apart. In these pages you can read about the region’s billion-year-old geological history as told in its rocks, the evolution of its flora and fauna as told in its fossils, the advances and retreats of multiple glaciers, and radical changes in the landscape. You can discover how New York’s modern habitats evolved through natural processes, how they became degraded by human activities, and how they are being restored by human efforts. You can find natural histories and photo galleries of New York’s flora and fauna. For those of you who want to learn more, topical reading lists and useful links are provided.