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How Does Fracking Affect The Environment

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Our society is in constant need of energy. 40 percent of the United States energy consumption is from oil. Coal provides 23 percent and natural gas provides 22 percent of our energy. These sources and how much we get from them will soon have to change because as most of us know, our fossil fuels are limited. Once these fossil fuels are used, they cannot be replaced. There are ways that we can reduce the amount of fossil fuels that we use. The ways that we extract these fossil fuels are leaving a negative impact on our environment.
What is fracking? It is the process of drilling and injecting fluid into the ground at a high pressure in order to fracture shale rocks to release the natural gases inside. Over 600 chemicals are used in fracking fluids. 72 trillion gallons of water and 360 billion gallons of chemicals are needed to run current gas wells. Fracking can cause contamination in the environment. Methane gas and toxic chemicals contaminate nearby groundwater. …show more content…

I believe that the main threat is global climate change. We are the cause of this, so technically, we are harming ourselves. We continue to burn carbon daily and this is just building up in the atmosphere. This is causing the Earth’s temperature to slowly rise. These rising temperatures can cause severe droughts. Exposure to extreme heat can also lead to heat strokes and dehydration. Warmer temperatures can lead to really poor air quality, which can lead to asthma attacks. Warmer temperatures are also melting permafrost. Permafrost holds massive amounts of carbon. IF it continues to melt then the carbon will be released and stored in the atmosphere. This will cause the Earth’s temperature to rise even quicker. Researchers believe the 60 percent of the Northern Hemispheres permafrost will melt. This can release about 190 billion tons of carbon into the Earth’s atmosphere. If this happens, then even more people's health will be a

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