Hydraulic fracturing (also known as fracking) is the process of extracting natural gas from shale rock deep in the ground. The fracking rig drills a pipe many miles below the ground and then injects highly pressurized fracking fluids into the shale area to release the shale gas. This process uses millions of gallons of water and hundreds of thousands of gallons of chemicals. The United Kingdom (UK) government is introducing a new range of licenses that if approved would allow fracking in more areas of the UK and Scotland . Hydraulic fracking should be banned because this process is detrimental to the local environment by damaging vital eco-systems and even damaging the atmosphere.
One key reason the government needs to ban fracking in the United
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The chemicals that are recovered are left in open air pits to simply let them evaporate. Once these VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds) evaporate into the atmosphere they can create among others a very serious problem, acid rain. Acid rain is a serious issue which can have an adverse impacts on forests, freshwater sources and soil, killing insects and water dwelling species, as well as causing damage to buildings and impacts on human health with conditions such as sensory and respiratory diseases. This is a serious concern among the health community with multiple notable health professionals stating that it is a serious concern that needs action to happen regarding …show more content…
Each fracking operation requires up to eight million gallons of water to complete the job. A fracking well can be fracked up to eighteen times resulting in up to one hundred and forty four million gallons of water can be used in each fracking well. People across the world have highlighted this incredible waste of water, it is calculated that around seventy two trillion gallons of water is currently needed for present active wells. James Fam¬¬¬iglietti a University of California professor of civil and environmental engineering said "It's a wake-up call” and that we need “to have a conversation about what impacts there are” showing how this is an extremely serious matter. Others have stated that while fracking wells need millions and millions of gallons of water to operate and fuel our never ending addiction with gas and fossil fuels millions in Africa and countries across the world walk home every day,