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the need for transportation of energy sources such as coal or other fossil fuels 40 . The reduction in the demand for transportation, reduces the process’ footprint and greenhouse gas emissions, compared with other polluting, non-renewable energy sources. However for every one of these positive impacts, there are countless negative impacts, many have claimed. Not only does fracking have negative impacts on the environment, but it also has a negative impact on local individuals directly. Fracking has many negative impacts on the environment, primarily due to methane gas pollution. Fracking releases methane from underground rocks. The methane travels to the head of the well and a small proportion of the methane escapes into the atmosphere. Methane gas is a greenhouse gas, which gets trapped in the atmosphere and contributes to rising global temperatures and causes global warming. Fracking also destroys the natural landscape. Fracking sites cover a number of acres and are considered eye pollution by many. A strong argument against fracking is that fracking causes water pollution in local areas around the sites. The chemicals involved in extracting the shale gas can leak into water sources and contaminate drinking water in local towns and cities. In each fracking project around 40,000 gallons of chemicals are used. These chemicals contaminate ground water sources and drinking water. Fracking is also rumoured to cause earthquakes. Areas that are not normally prone to earthquakes have been impacted by earthquakes due to fracking. For example Dallas has suffered 40 small tremors of magnitude 2.0 or larger since fracking was implemented into the area. 41 Earthquakes caused by fracking can have negative impacts, not only on the fracking operation but also on the local communities’ houses and businesses. If the fracking operation does cause earthquakes and businesses are affected, there may be a detrimental impact on local trade.
40 http://environment.about.com/od/fossilfuels/fl/8-Environmental-Costs-2-Benefits-of-Fracking-for-Natural- Gas.htm 41 http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/09/us/texas-earthquakes-fracking-studies/
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