The Pros And Cons Of Fracking

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Fracking is a pressurized, chemically treated mixture of water and sand to release and extract natural gas and petroleum from shale rock. In the United States it has resulted in large profit for the energy industry and lower domestic energy prices. The benefits are good but the impact it has made on the environment near fracturing sites has been negative. Environmentalist want the technique of fracking banned. The technique should be banned because it plays a part in global warming, affects our water, and causes human health problems. It contributes to global warming by releasing methane gas into the atmosphere. In the viewpoint “Fracking Contributes to Global Warming”, Louis W. Allstadt mentions methane gas is release because of two factors. The factors being fracking needing fifty to one hundred times more fracking fluids, causing more flowback than common wells and the rocks above the target zone can be less impenetrable, which causes methane gas to sneak up to the surface and into the atmosphere. Methane makes up ninety percent of shale gas which leaks during fracking. Twenty to hundred years from now there is no knowing how much methane will be in the…show more content…
The article “Fracking is Harmful to the Environment” mentions the water industry treating water as a market based product. Millions of gallons of water are sold for fracking, making some large water utilities in favor of the technique. The millions of water sold is increasing the water shortage in some areas. With fracking contributing to climate change, water quality will lower causing the quantity of freshwater to decrease. The water cycle will be affected causing heat waves, floods and droughts. Fracking also has a part in our health. The toxic chemicals, benzene and arsenic, used in fracking fluid can cause cancer and for families living near fracking sites it is causing them to have trouble breathing and skin

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