Porter Ranch Los Angeleses: A Case Study

“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

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

One thing that most reasonable people should be able to agree upon is that 620 million tonnes of methane released into the atmosphere

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

Supporters of hydraulic fracturing correctly point out that energy derived natural gas is less damaging to the environment than coal. However, this does not take natural gas leaks into account. Leaks in the piping that transports the extracted natural gas from the well to a storage container emit methane into the atmosphere. Methane has a greenhouse effect 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide. (Environmental Protection Agency) In 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that these leaks totaled 570 billion cubic feet (Alvarez, Pacala and Winebrake 6435), making natural gas operations the largest source of methane emissions in the United States (Environmental Protection Agency). When this amount of leakage and the damaging nature of methane is taken into account, natural gas is actually worse for the environment overall than coal (Alvarez, Pacala and Winebrake

‘[Watts] revealed a few inconvenient facts. A 1976 study by the Colorado Division of Water found that this area was plagued with gas in the water problems back then. And it was naturally occurring. As the report stated there was “troublesome amounts of methane” in the water decades before fracking began. It seems that in geographical areas gas has always been in the water’ (Watts,

McGraw describes several of the numerous incidents of air and water pollution that occurred directly from the fracking. Methane, a colorless and odorless greenhouse gas that is known to trap radiation, leaked several times in Susquehanna. Not only were water supplies contaminated by chemicals, but fracking can often lead to droughts as the oil companies draw water for the hydraulic fracturing. Some people have found so much gas in their water that it could be set on fire. Methane can have harmful long-term effects from

Hydrauling Fracturing is a process used in nine out of ten natural gas wells in the United States, where millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are pumped underground to break apart the rock and release the gas. Hydrauling Fracturing damages the land, contaminates drinking water, pollutes the air, cause illness in surrounding communities and has aslo known to cause earthquakes (Goldman, Jennifer). It has major threats towards our climate. Methane gas the main competed of natural gas is less common but more potent to greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide 85 to 105 time more powerful than carbon dioxide at disrupting the climate over 20 years (Goldman, Jennifer ).Water and Pollution are also infected by this. In Texas and Colorado more than 3.6 million gallons of water are used very time a well is fracked. Fracking fluids and waste have made their way to our drinking water and aquifers (Hoffman, Joe ). The counter argument to this problems is fossil complains claiming that these fracking fluids are harmless because they’re roughly 2% chemicals and 98% other.

Although oil companies uphold the idea that fracking is a cheaper and efficient, fracking damages the local water, air and soil in the surrounding cities. According to the Science of Total Environment, scientists speculate that wells require up to 5 million gallons of fluid per extraction event, which would require tons of chemicals including benzene, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides to unconventionally bring out the shale gas (Werner et al. 2014). The lengthy list of air pollutants, most of which are combustible, suggests that both human health and the environment are at risk and the surrounding water aquifers located near the horizontal wells could also be damaged. The amount of water needed for extraction also demonstrates the strain the process of fracking has on the environment and local water supply. Similarly, the potency of methane is 20 times worse than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, which is further aggravated by the process of flaring (Weinhold 2012). Thus, flaring and fracking serves not only as a nuisance to the community through the health hazards and water pollution, but can worsen the status of global climate

Officials in the Obama administration are nearly ready to unveil their unprecedented regulation of the oil and gas industries by ordering the reduction of methane emissions in the United States by 40 to 45 percent within the next ten years. Such a drastic alteration would significantly change how natural gas is produced and consumed and transform the entire electric industry in the country, potentially shifting its reliance on fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy. Though methane constitutes only nine percent of emissions, far less than carbon dioxide, it has over twenty times the effect toward global warming as carbon dioxide has and is therefore important to regulate. Also, the Obama administration has initiated reductions in emission

In Texas, high levels of benzene have been measured in the air near wells in the Barnett Shale gas fields. Unhealthy air adversely affects us all. It causes numerous health problems that require medical treatment, hospitalization, short term and long tern medical problems etc. The issues of severe air contamination are a reason enough to limit natural gas production everywhere unless proven otherwise. Methane is the main component of natural gas and is twenty-five times more potent in trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. According to Joe Hoffman, “A recent study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) monitoring gas wells in Weld County, Colorado, estimated that 4 percent of the methane produced by these wells is escaping into the atmosphere.” We understand that is only four percent of methane, which is released into the air. However, methane is very potent and can cause severe air pollution. Sand is also a main component used in the fracking process. Crystalline silica is the form of sand, which can cause silicosis an incurable but preventable lung disease when inhaled by workers. Not only does hydraulic fracturing cause air pollution for the people who live around these drilling cites but also to the workers who work during the process of

DIMOCK, PA -- Norma Fiorentino’s drinking water well was a time bomb. For weeks, as workers drilled natural gas deposits nearby, stray methane worked into tiny crevasses in the rock, leaking upward into the aquifer and slipping quietly into her well. Then, according to the state’s working theory, a pump turned on in her well house, flicked a spark, and caused a New Year’s morning blast that tossed aside a several-thousand-pound concrete slab. Afterward state officials found methane, the largest ingredient of natural gas, in her drinking water. Drilling for natural gas has caused explosions, polluted aquifers and even burning water. (Lustgarten n. pg.) Ninety percent of natural gas wells in the United States use hydraulic

The concept of global warming has become one of the most widely debated and controversial topics of our time. Scientists learned long ago that the earth’s climate has powerfully shaped the history of humanity. However, it is only in the past few decades that research has revealed that humans have a significant influence on the climate as well. A growing body of scientific evidence indicates that since 1950, the world’s climate has been warming, primarily as a result of emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and the destruction of tropical forests. More importantly, an article titled "Global Warming" published in the New York Times shows that methane, a gas that is emitted from landfills, livestock and oil gas facilities,

According to an article from Live Science, methane is “a simple hydrocarbon made up of one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms, and is produced when microorganisms called methanogens combine carbon dioxide and oxygen” (“5 Facts,”n.d.). Methane is primarily used to produce heat and light, which can be found in homes, such as cooking or heating. Methane is an explosive gas that if it is exposed to the air, it can change the climate. It can also result to global warming, being that it is the second greenhouse gas to carbon dioxide, according to an article from the ARM Climate Research Facility website. Not only has the gas leak affected residents in Southern California, but also schools that were in the area. The article continues to state that if the gas continues to arise, workers would have to discontinue their job due to health risk.

The world has seen a drastic reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, the benefits of the transition from burning coals to using natural gases. The consequences however, are seemingly becoming more damaging than experts thought. Natural gases are primarily composed of methane gas (CH4), gases which are 35 times the potency of carbon dioxide and traps much more heat radiation. The United States alone is responsible for 30% to 60% of global growth in human-caused methane emissions in the past 14 years (Magill 2016). During the process of extraction and transportation of natural gases, is where the problem resides. Methane leakage occurs from processing plants and storage facilities becoming a major concern for the environment. The big question is, how much methane actually escapes into the atmosphere and what are the challenges humans face trying to prevent further leakages.