No other threat to the human race is more imminent than the threats that are Global Warming and Climate change. Global Warming and Climate Change are ruining the planet and will eventually kill the entire human species along with every other species on earth if they are not stopped. For years, lawmakers in our country have been trying to get bills passed and have succeeded but it is not enough as the climate changes and causes natural disasters such as hurricanes and tornados that displace millions of people per year. Global warming is increasing the average temperature on the earth, which in turn impacts biodiversity and the climactic changes. Global Warming and Climate Change will continue to ravage the planet today, tomorrow, and every day after that if the human race does not come together, not only as a country, but as a planet.
Fracking is short for hydraulic fracturing, a type of drilling used by oil companies to tap the valuable oil veins located miles below the earth’s surface. Fracking has been the subject of discussion for some time now, not necessarily for its effectiveness, but for its effect on the environment. Fracking has been known to release methane gas into the atmosphere; methane gas is a greenhouse gas and along with gasses like CO2 is one of the gasses that contributes to the warming of the planet. In Louis W. Allstadt’s article “Fracking Contributes to Global Warming” he states that, “methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas in the short term-less
Fracking is a pressurized, chemically treated mixture of water and sand used to release and extract natural gas and petroleum from shale rock. The process involves a well drilled vertically to the desired depth, then turns ninety degrees and continues horizontally for thousands of feet into the shale believed to contain the trapped natural gas. A mix of water, sand, and various chemicals are pumped into the well at high pressure in order to create fissures in the shale through which the gas can escape. Natural gas escapes through the fissures and is drawn back up the well to the surface, where it is processed, refined, and shipped to market. Flowback returns to the surface after the fracking process is completed (Fracking: The Process 1). Environmentalist want the technique of fracking banned because it plays a part in global warming, affects our water, and causes human health problems. If fracking cannot be banned because of its necessity, then it should be made safe and eco-friendly.
If engineers fail to adhere to fracking protocol, then fracking may cause more harm than benefit. Natural gas cannot be collected perfectly from fractured rocks, some of the gas escapes at the mouth of the well. The methane will adversely effect the atmosphere and the environment. Methane can trap the heat from the impact the global temperatures. In addition to the risk of global warming, fracking could contaminate water supplies, which poses health risks. If the fracking liquids are not recollected after injection or extract the methane effectively, these pollutants can contaminate the
Oil and natural gas companies have developed a way to drill for natural gas, a process called hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. Natural gas is a flammable gas mixture consisting of methane and several other hydrocarbons that occur naturally underground. Natural gas is used as fuel for heating, cooking, and even in some automobiles like the “RideOn” buses. This technique has only recently become economically feasible with the rising prices of fossil fuels, and there is much potential for recovering natural gas through fracking. However, fracking has many waste products and unusual side effects caused by the unnatural forces and materials used. Fracking has a detrimental effect on the surrounding environment through
Over the past decade oil and gas producers have increasingly used hydraulic fracturing also known as fracking to extract oil and gas from the earth. Most people believe fracking is a new process but it has been around for over 100 years. Modern day fracking began in the 1990’s when George P Mitchell created a new technique by combining fracking with horizontal drilling. Since then, U.S. oil and gas production has skyrocketed. But the “new” perception of fracking leads people to incorrectly believe that fracking is temporary and that it somehow harms the environment. The truth is fracking is a reasonable energy solution if oversight and safeguards are used. In the last ten years fracking has improved conditions in the U.S. in three
“Fracking” isn’t a word that most people are familiar with unless they are well informed or active in local government or natural gas extraction. “Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves extracting natural gas from shale formations underground” (Collier, Galatas, Harrelson-Stephens, 2008). During the process known as fracking, millions of gallons of water are shot underground into shale formations to help bring the natural gas trapped inside the formations to be released so that it can surface and become available for extraction. This is the technique that is used for traditional fracking methods. Although fracking increases the states natural gas production, it also carries some negative side effects that are affecting the state and its people.
Fracking has become a highly controversial and publicized topic in recent years due to rising concerns into the potential benefits and consequences of using hydraulic fracturing to retrieve natural gas and oil reserves. With concerns over water pollution, mismanagement of toxic waste and irreversible environmental damage mounting, the practice of fracking has
The most dangerous consequence of fracking is that hundreds of chemicals are blasted into the Earth’s crust, which creates cracks in the bedrock. Many times, these cracks lead to an aquifer, in which case, all of the water in the aquifer becomes contaminated with these chemicals (Jackson, 2014). Additionally, when the natural gas is being pumped out of the wells, methane is released into the atmosphere. A study conducted by NOAA found that approximately 4% of the methane is being released into the atmosphere. This same study found that methane pollution increases climate changes because it traps heat in the atmosphere 25 times more than carbon dioxide (Hoffman, 2016). Furthermore, fracking waste wells are the primary cause of the increase of earthquakes in the Central U.S. This is because these wells operate for a longer period of time, which means that they inject more “solid ‘cake’” into the Earth than the actual fracking process (USGS, n.d. and StateImpact, 2017). Finally, recent studies have found that people who live near a fracking site are at higher risk to develop respiratory problems, which is due to the increased levels of pollutants. These pollutants are not only affecting the people who live in close proximity to these sites, but to the workers, as well. The most common type of respiratory problem reported was lung
“In addition to carbon pollution, fracking exploits massive amounts of methane pollution, which drive global climate change. Methane warms the climate approximately 80 times more than the equivalent of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period.” This is a big problem which needs to
In the article, “The truth about fracking,” Chris Mooney analyzes the effects of fracking by big companies looking to extract natural gas. Fracking is done by drilling deep underground, even 5000 feet at times, and shooting high pressure water loaded with chemicals to extract gases that serve as energy. The U.S. has been fracking for about 65 years and there is enough gas in U.S. soil to last many decades to come but there are many setbacks.
This article tries to advocate fracking by giving insights on how safe fracking is for the environment. To begin with, a brief description is given as to how fracking is done to extract natural gas. Views of Manhattan Institute senior fellow Robert Bryce which compare the CO2 emissions in 2002 and 2012 show a drop of 8% due to surge in shale gas production, which reduced coal usage. Water usage and other resources like land and habitat protection for wild animals has been presented in the article to highlight how fracking is much environment friendly compared to other energy sources, even wind and solar.
What’s fracking and what's the hype about it? Well fracking is the act of injecting liquid into rocks to extract their oil concentrate, basically it’s like drilling for oils and gases, but different in some aspects. Drilling for oil –– wait no, drilling for anything –– is a double-sided blade, on one hand we have the costs, labor, time put forth, as well the depletion of habitats, on the other hand, we need to obtain the resources and use them efficiently. Establishing that we can infer that fracking is a major way we collect resources to keep our lives fueled. Us humans have been finding different ways to get the most out of something for awhile.
As you know, fracking allows companies such as ExxonMobil to obtain natural gases from the geosphere. Natural gas, of course, produces less
When you look at the title of this paper you ask yourself, what is fracking, and you probably try to learn the definition so that you’ll actually understand what I am writing about. However, I am going to tell you what fracking is. What is fracking? Fracking is the injection of fluid into the ground in order to get natural fossil fuels to come to the surface, in order to use them for gas and other things (Fracking). How does fracking work? Water and sand are pushed into the ground horizontally and small explosives are inserted in order to push out oil and gas from the natural rocks that are there. Fracking has been going on for decades but there is a new type of fracking, deep fracking, that was first used in Texas in 1999 (MacDonald, 2004). There are good and bad effects of using fracking to get natural gas, many different things are effected on the Earth either way.
Fracking effects the environment and people the toxic substances in fracking fluid and waste water and as well as air pollution from trucks, the wells themselves have been connected to health problems. Fracking requires large amounts of water that may affect the availability of water for other uses, and it can affect animals that live under water. Fracking tacks natural areas, forest, and farmland and replace them with industrial zones, well pads, roads, pipelines and other infrastructure. That is why fracking is bad for the
Hydraulic fracturing has numerous negative effects on Oklahoma. A nearly unavoidable byproduct of fracking that cannot be ignored is the pollution that stems from it. During the fracking process, a portion of the methane produced, which is shown to trap heat twenty-five times more effectively than carbon dioxide, another common greenhouse gas, escapes into the atmosphere as it is brought to the surface (Hoffman). Studies conducted in Weld County, Colorado, which has a comparable number of fracking wells to many places in Oklahoma; show that this loose methane is the equivalent of the carbon emissions of nearly three million cars (Hoffman). Furthermore, fracking has been shown to release large amounts of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide into the air, which are two of the main components of smog (Hoffman). Even in places such as