To Frack or Not to Frack - Ecology Essay Sample

Fracking is one of the ways used to extract oil and natural gas from beneath the surface of the earth. The process involves injecting high-pressure liquid mixtures into the subterranean rocks encompassing oils and natural gas to force the oils or natural gas out (Finkel & Law, 2011). Fracking is one of the questionable activities taking place on in the world today and there have been varied opinions on whether fracking should be encouraged or not. Environmentalists have argued greatly against fracking arguing that it is an environmental degradation process while those advocate for fracking have held their positions on account that fracking helps a lot in the extraction of oil and hence industrial and economic development in the countries where it is done (Shannon, 2016). Despite the arguments of those who advocate for fracking, I believe that the earth should not be fracked. Fracking is a dangerous process that is harmful to our environment in the sense that it causes water poisoning, causes water pollution, it brings about oil spillage that can be disastrous and brings about human-induced earthquakes that threaten lives of people among other negative impacts on the environment.

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Even though some people, and particularly those who attach the economic value to the process of fracking fully support fracking of the earth as a way of extracting gas or oil, the process has detrimental effects on the environment. The adverse effects of fracking on the environment can be understood by examining how the process of fracking is conducted and the substances used fin the process. During fracking, high-pressure liquids are injected into rocks to force the fissures open so as to release gas or oil in them. The substances used can be water, chemicals (Esposito, 2013). In most cases, the liquids used are chemicals that have a capability of fracturing the rocks. This being the case, there is a huge possibility that the chemicals used in the fracking process can escape and penetrate to the underground water reservoirs and contaminate the ground water (Esposito, 2013). Given that the fracking is not done on the surface of the earth, but it is done deep down underground, it is possible and indeed the chemicals used in the fracking process reach the underground water and get mixed with the underground water and this poisons the water reservoirs in the sites where fracking is done. Fracking should therefore not be practiced at all cost if at all the most important resource that supports life has to be conserved and its poisoning prevented.

Fracking also causes water pollution at the site where it is carried out. As mentioned earlier, people who conduct fracking in the process of extracting oil or natural gas use liquid mixtures which sometimes are chemicals that have a capability of causing water pollution. When the have already been used, they are pumped out of the tunnels in which they were injected for the so as to dispose them. This being the case, it follows that the when such chemicals are disposed into water bodies such as rivers and lakes, the water in such water bodies gets polluted. The pollution is such water bodies has detrimental consequences to the living organisms in the water and even human beings who depend on such water bodies for domestic water, the contaminated water can cause diseases such as cholera leading to deaths and also, the chemicals reduce the clarity of the water and therefore affect the amount of sunlight that penetrates into the water hence affecting the aquatic fauna and flora (Finkel & Law, 2011). Therefore, fracking the earth should be stopped if the earth has to remain safe to human beings, plants and animals. This is because of the fact that fracking is indeed harmful to the environment and threatens life on earth.

Oils spillage is another harmful effect that can result from the practice of fracking the earth. Fracking is usually done with two main aims which are to extract natural gas or to extract oil. In a situation where fracking is done to extract oil, the high-pressure chemicals that are injected into the subterranean rocks to force the water oil might do exactly that put the pressure with which the oil comes out might sometimes be too much to control (Evensen et al., 2014). In such a situation, oil spillages are inevitable and uncontrollable. Oils can, therefore, spill over the environment in such cases. Since the oil is forced out by the high-pressure chemicals injected into the rocks, the oil comes out with even greater strength and sometimes the pressure can be unmanageable. This causes the oil to spill over the surface at points where fracking is being done and this has a detrimental effect on the environment. Oil spillage on the surface covers all the flora and therefore tampers with their respiratory process causing them to die. This leads to environmental degradation that is extremely dangerous and capable of turning a potentially arable land to a barren land.

Oil spillage due to fracking can also get to the underground water, the high-pressure liquids that are injected into the rock to release the oil might result to the fracturing of the bedrock. When this happens at points where the water table is high enough and close to the rock being stressed, the tunnels might open into the underground water letting the oil to mix with the underground water (Thakor, 2016). As it is known, underground water is a source to water bodies such as rivers and streams and therefore, when oil spillage affects such water, water bodies are also affected and the effects of the contaminated water can get to the people and animals who depend on the water from such bodies. It is, therefore, prudent to stop fracking of the earth because this process is harmful to the environment. Fracking brings about oils spillage which has massive negative effects to the environment. Therefore, there is a need for the society today to think of these adverse effects that can result from oil spillage as a result of fracking and stop carrying out this practice regardless of its perceived economic effects.

Finally, the earth should not be fracked because fracking causes human-induced earthquakes and earth tremors. As Evensen et al. (2014) state it, anyone who has ever been to an area that has experienced earthquakes can never want to experience such at his or her place of residence or even anywhere near his or her. This is because earthquakes are destructive in nature. When the terrestrial rocks tremble and crumble due to earthquakes, it is usually a frightening and life-threatening experience (Throupe, Simons & Mao, 2013). Fracking is one of the human activities that has a great potential of causing human-induced earthquakes. During fracking, high-pressure liquids are pumped or injected into the earth rocks to release gas or oil. The liquid is injected into tunnels that are drilled into the rocks of the earth. According to Thakor (2016), this drilling, combined with the high pressure of the rocks that are injected into such rocks causes the rocks of the earth to fracture. When the fracturing occurs, earth tremors and sometimes earthquakes can develop. Earthquakes are destructive because they lead to the demolition of buildings and other structures on the surface of the earth (Throupe, Simons & Mao, 2013). Such human induces earthquakes can also lead to flooding especially when river banks are broken and water is let loose. All these factors result in deaths of people and loss of property worth billions of US dollars. It is therefore high time to stop the practice of fracking so as to save the earth from the problems associated with fracking-induced earthquake effects.

Those who advocate for fracking have a point. Currently, each and every country in the world is keen on achieving its development goals. Among the commodities that are helping countries to achieve their development goals are oil and natural gas. The economic value attached to oil all over the world due to industrial development creates a great need for the product (Pierce Jr, 2013). Therefore. To get enough oil for all the people needing it all over the world, extraction of this precious commodity should be encouraged, since fracking is one of the methods that can be used to extract oil from underneath the surface of the earth, it should be promoted. Furthermore, fracking has played an important role in making gas available and therefore managing the prices for gas in countries such as the United States of America (Jackson et al., 2014). If fracking were not there or was to be abolished, then the price for natural gas would be extremely high and difficult for many people to afford (Pierce Jr, 2013). It is also clear that without fracking, a lot of resources such as crude oil and gas will remain unexploited and this will retard the economic and industrial development of the nationals of the world. Therefore, Fracking needs to be encouraged and in fact, it is good for the economic well-being of the nations of the world.

However, it is simply not right to put the lives of people and animals as well as plants at risk just because of economic development, it is not right to frack the earth even if there seems to be a good number of economic benefits that come as a result of practicing it (Shannon, 2016). This is because people need a good environment that is unpolluted or undegraded to enjoy the economic and industrial development brought about by extraction of oil and natural gas. Therefore, there is no sense in encouraging and practicing fracking if it threatens the wellbeing of people and their environment as seen above.

In conclusion, Fracking is a practice that involves extraction of oil and gas through injecting high-pressure liquids into the rocks containing them. Despite some people believing that fracking has greater economic importance, it is not worth doing it because it is a harmful process that degrades the environment through poisoning water, polluting water, causing oil spillage and causing human-induced earthquakes and earth tremors. This being the case, it should be abolished to protect the environment and lives of people, plants and animals.

References

Boone, W. H., & Robinson, M. B. (2015). Whole Lotta Shakin'Going on: Recent Studies Link Fracking and Earthquakes. Def. Counsel J., 82, 68.

Esposito, M. (2013). Water Issues Set the Pace for Fracking Regulations and Global Shale Gas Extraction. Tul. J. Int'l & Comp. L., 22, 167.

Evensen, D., Jacquet, J. B., Clarke, C. E., & Stedman, R. C. (2014). What's the frackingproblem? One word cant say it all. The Extractive Industries and Society, 1(2), 130-136.

Finkel, M. L., & Law, A. (2011). The rush to drill for natural gas: a public health cautionary tale. American Journal of Public Health, 101(5), 784-785.

Jackson, R. B., Vengosh, A., Carey, J. W., Davies, R. J., Darrah, T. H., O'sullivan, F., & Petron, G. (2014). The environmental costs and benefits of fracking. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 39, 327-362.

Pierce Jr, R. J. (2013). Natural Gas Fracking Addresses All of Our Major Problems. Geo. Wash. J. Energy & Envtl. L., 4, 22.

Shannon, P. (2016). The story of one activist's anti-fracking stance. Green Left Weekly, (1088), 25.

Thakor, R. T. (2016). Liquidity Windfalls and Reallocation: Evidence from Farming and Fracking.

Throupe, R., Simons, R., & Mao, X. (2013). A review of hydro fracking and its potential effects on real estate. Journal of Real Estate Literature, 21(2), 205-232.