Forget Fracking
In a time where obtaining resources is more vital than ever, we may need to rethink the ways in which we do so.
Fracking is the process by which liquids are injected into certain geologically weak crevices and cracks in order to raise resources from the bottom.
If liquids or gases are injected deep enough and with enough pressure, then resources at the bottom of the shoot will be forced upwards to the surface.
The first instance of fracking occurred around 80 years ago when 4000 liters of gasoline and sand were injected down into the ground of a gas drilling site.
The objective was to raise resources, specifically oil to the surface in order for it to be siphoned.
Nowadays, fracking more often occurs with water being injected, which is much more harmful to the Earth than gasoline and can even be toxic to drinking water.
However, there is a loophole in the Safe Water Drinking Act that exempts fracking. The Safe Water Drinking Act is a federal law that mandates that all drinking water must be up to a certain quota in order for the public to drink from it. If water doesn’t meet a certain level of purity then it can’t be served to the public.
Despite being legal, fracking can lead to massive amounts of water pollution.
By artificially releasing water into the Earth, many patches of water develop chemicals that could be harmful to animals to ingest or swim in. Additionally, this water will likely make its way to larger bodies of water like oceans or rivers and will poison the water there too.
Ecosystems are also highly affected by fracking. Many environments are torn down in order to make the space needed in order to facilitate the process of fracking.
The animals and plants that live in these ecosystems are rarely relocated and almost always driven to either change habitats or die out altogether.
Fracking may be an efficient way of obtaining resources, but the cons heavily outweigh the benefits when it comes to whether or not we should continue to implement it in mining.
Perhaps, if we don’t make substantial changes to the way we go about obtaining resources, maybe we should simply forget fracking.
