Prior to watching Gasland 2 and Truthland, I am familiar with the term “fracking” but never took the time to look into it. After watching these two films, I realized how fracking is a controversial topic in the world of environmentalists. These two very different films explain how fracking is effecting the environment around us. Before explaining further into these films, we need to know what fracking really means. Fracking is “a process by which the rock is split so that natural gas can flow to the surface,” defined by Terry Engelder, a professor of geosciences at Penn State University.
Why is fracking dangerous? During the fracking process natural gases are realized into the well where they are drilling often contaminating the nearby groundwater with methane gases and chemical toxins. After the fracking process the waste fluid is evaporated releasing volatile organic compounds causes acid rain, contaminated air, and ozone at
Silica dust is released into the atmosphere when fracking occurs. This dust is extremely harmful to people that inhale it and is directly linked to the lung disease silicosis (Environment America Research and Policy Center). Air pollution is an immediate effect of fracking as well. This causes symptoms such as headaches, eye irritation, respiratory problems, and nausea to nearby residents (Environment America Research and Policy Center). A harmful effect that fracking has on both the environment and to people is it depletes the ozone layer and produces pollution that forms ozone smog and soot.
In addition, there are more downsides to fracking than just water pollution, and that is the pollution of our environment. The condition of our environment is horrendous when fracking is conducted. To add on to that statement, fracking has caused natural gas leakage into the air, marred landscapes, and many more hazards to our environment. Fracking has already caused pollution to the air, and fracking companies have to remove trees, then that takes away more air from our environment. Trees are vital to Earth’s supply of oxygen, and these companies are just taking the air straight out of the lungs of the people.
In the second article "Fracking Threatens Everyone" it is stated "Fracking remains a dangerous practice that poses a threat even if it is done correctly and is carefully monitored" so it seems that the author wants people to stop Fracking because it generates dangers. It is stated "sources of drinking water can be ruined and all different types of pollution can happen in a second" which poses a great threat to many places. For example, the pollution can enter streams and rivers and kill whatever is in it, and harm even more wildlife. It says "This makes fracking a gamble for communities and individuals who may be tempted by the large amounts of money being offered to those who allow their land to be used for fracking" and the author
FRACKING AND ITS CRITICISM Since the mid-80s, The First Nations and their leaders have raised numerous concerns about the failure of the government and industries in Canada to properly consult them before developing any of their lands. Fracking is a technique used in stimulating the fracturing of rocks through the use of pressurized liquid. The fluid used comprises of hot water, sand, and proppants that are thickened using appropriate agents. The fluid enters the deep-rock and makes it possible to have natural gas, petroleum and brine flow up. If the pressure is removed, the grains in the proppants are capable of keeping the fractures while open.
"Hydraulic fracturing, the process of extracting oil or gas by forcing fluids into the ground to fracture shale rocks, at the Eagle Ford Shale Play has produced more oil and natural gas but at the cost of environmental hazards and affect human health. The part of the process that creates the environmental hazards is the fracking fluids that are forced into the ground. For each fracking job, these fluids are comprised of 1 to 8 million gallons of water and 40,000 gallons of chemicals. Some of the 600 chemical carcinogens and toxins in the fracking fluids are lead, radium, uranium, mercury, methanol, hydrochloric acid, ethylene glycol, and formaldehyde. Once the fracking job is done, about 50 to 70 percent of fracking liquids are left in open
Keep in mind fracking has also caused earthquakes, pollution and health issues for humans, but in the early 1980s, there was so much natural gas that all gas prices were reduced. All of that natural gas came from hydraulic fracturing or fracking.
1. Even though fracking reduces carbon emissions, it is still harmful to the environment. For example: water pollution/contamination. There can be accidental seeping of the chemicals (possibly carcinogenic) and can contaminate groundwater around the site due to bad practice (this imposes harm to both the ecosystem and people 's health).
With the increased scale of fracking in Texas, one might wonder if the oil boom is affecting our water supply. The value of water in Texas is deeply cherished considering Texas’s dry climate and long-standing droughts. One may even wonder if Texas is valuing its water as much as it is its oil. As research furthers, we can begin to weigh the positive and negative effects of oil fracking. By providing overwhelming data on oil fracking
Some people believe that the environment isn 't being harmed by everyday production, but one can argue that as people move closer to fracking industries, people become exposed to harmful gases and chemicals. Fracking a destructive force, is it safe, is it reasonable, is it right? As Chris Hedges explains in his article “Death By Fracking”, he says, “There are more than 15 million Americans, many of them children, who live within a mile of a fracking site. Most are being exposed daily to a deadly brew of toxins. Because the oil and gas industry is not required under law to disclose the chemicals used in
Fracking is a method used to extract natural gas and should be continued because it is a viable source of energy, economically beneficial, and poses no threat towards groundwater. In the first place natural gas produced by fracking is a viable source of energy. Fracking is so effective that in “4 months of a good shale well will produce enough energy to power around 11,000 homes for those 4 months,” - (Sweet). An example of the energy from fracking is: “Domestic crude production increased from 5 million barrels a day to 7.3 million barrels a day.” - (Kashi)
The process of fracking allows humans to extract the colorless, shapeless and odorless gas and oil when it is in its original form, which is later on used for electric power, in industries, in vehicles and in other important worldwide makings. Finally, the significance of fracking in the United States has clearly become leading to macroeconomists to state that the country is changing from a “net importer” to a “net exporter” of oil and gas over the coming years. Table 1: " What Is Fracking and Why Is It Controversial? - BBC News.
Our natural resources are at risk every time fracking occurs. Fracking needs to be banned since it is hurting our health and that it drains our natural and limited resources required for us to sustain life. Water is an essential to living and it is a need. Without it we would be dead from the dehydration. Fracking in this case can contaminate it to where we cannot drink it and if we do it can lead to death or a trip to the hospital:
Fracking is one of the best ways to get natural resources. “Fracking is a process of drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside” (Unknown). Adversaries of fracking will say that it is dangerous, use up our water supply, and poison our water supply, but that is not totally true, fracking will bring in more money, save money, and will make the air cleaner and safer. Fracking may seem unacceptable because of what people say about it, however, when they drill deep into the facts they will see that fracking is actually very beneficial. Fracking will bring in tons of money for all of the United States.
