In Janna Palliser's article "Fracking Fury" published in the journal "Green Science", Palliser weighs the pros and cons of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking", as a mechanism used to obtain natural gas from deep within the earth.
Some pros were that fracking created hundreds of domestic jobs for Americans, as well as the fact that using natural gas versus fossil fuels is a lot cleaner; less CO2 is produced as a byproduct.
However, the cons heavily outweighed the pros, categorized with water pollution, human health, animal health, and then the cause of earthquakes. Water pollution is caused by fracking because once the fluids used to displace the natural gas are released into the ground, they seep through the earth until they reach reservoirs of ground water and all of the chemicals in the fracking fluid are then combined with the ground water. This then affects human health because any contact with this polluted water causes irritation, and even serious infections. Humans are not the only species affected by this pollution; cows, goats, and chickens have been found dead as a result of fracking in a close radius. Most severely, earthquaked are a severe byproduct of hydraulic fracturing. In Youngstown, Ohio, as soon as the fracking fluids were placed into the ground, several earthquakes erupted over the time span of one year within five kilometers of the fracking site, and the epicenter of these earthquakes was at the same depth as the fracking, three kilometers below the earth's surface.
Palliser makes it clearly evident that the cons of fracking severely outweigh the pros, and then discusses the EPA study that the class read about in the week prior. The link between fracking and pollution is irrefutable, and government regulatory action needs to happen before the earthquakes or health effects become more severe.
"Fracking Fury" by Janna Palliser, published in "Green Science"
http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=aca0bfc0-005d-4df8-8d84-dd1ad8bb6eb6%40sessionmgr110&vid=2&hid=102
Sarah, your post was very easy to read and understand. Your post clearly shows that the cons of fracking definitely outweigh the pros. In your cons paragraph, you made sure to cover the damages that fracturing does to all living creatures in different forms and ways which was very efficient! I think your point was also well supported. Great post!
ReplyDelete