Each of these compounds is known to be poisonous, cancerous, or cause birth defects. The EPA fears that the drinking water will compromised due to runoff of the surface water discharge. Additionally, contamination of underground sources of drinking water and inadequate treatment of the waste water are possible. The threat of contaminated water supplies can cause a fearful population, largely due to the propaganda spread by anti-fracking initiatives. Although there are potential economical disadvantages to fracking, there are also enormous positives.
Enis Davud 2/6/13 Mrs. Laird Earth Science Frack Attack! Off shore drilling or conventional drilling is used most often to extract natural gas. However a fairly new form of drilling has evolved called hydraulic fracturing or hydrofracking. Hydrofracking’s main purpose is to open up shale deposits filled with natural gas that are unable to be attained using normal drilling. The process of hydraulic fracturing is complex and has many effects on the economy, environment, and the workers.
The release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon also known as an oil spill has a large negative effect on the ocean. Oil is commonly used by individuals however often oil can be a problem to organisms and their inhabitants. Oils spills are a form of pollution and there are various sources of oil in bodies of water. There are several scientific solutions for oil spills, as well as possible ways to prevent this harmful pollution. In 2010 ,172 million gallons of oil spilled from a whole on the ocean bed in the Gulf of Mexico.
Environmental Hazards a. In the St. Lawrence River, lots of industry has resulted in high levels of toxic chemical such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and heavy metals. b. Because these toxins affect not only one specie but also all of species that are interconnected by food chain. c. These pollution decline beluga’s immune system, get disease easily that linked to low birth rates of belugas which have lived in the St. Lawrence River.
We have created massive power plants throughout the United States that emit toxic fumes and gases. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, there are approximately 6,600 operational power plants in the United States alone (“Kinds of Power Plants”, 2013). While not every one of these power plants is responsible for releasing the dangerous toxins, one could argue that whatever the product may be that they are producing, is still significantly contributing to amount of harmful greenhouse gases that is causing damage to atmosphere. Not only are the power plants causing a disturbance to the balance of our ecosystem, but there are the gases that are emitted from petroleum gas and fuel in our cars, buses, planes and trains. There are countless numbers of transportation means in
These two components are naturally occurring from sources like volcanoes but the industrial revolution has exponentially increased the amount of these chemicals in the air. The two components adjust the pH levels of water bring them down to sometimes sever acidic levels. pH levels are measured on a scale from 1-14. A pH level of 7 is a neutral water level; higher levels are alkaline and lower are acidic. Normal rainwater can sometimes be as low as a pH level of 5.0.
Air pollution comes from a wide variety of sources * Vehicle or manufacturing exhaust * Forest fires, volcanic eruption, dry soil erosion * Building construction or demolition Many scientists believe that global warming is also related to increased air pollution. 2. Water Pollution Water pollution involves any contaminated water, whether from chemical, particulate or bacterial matter that degrades the water’s quality and purity. It can occur in oceans, rivers, lakes and underground reservoirs. Causes of water pollution include: * Increased sediment from soil erosion * Improper waste disposal and littering * Leaching of soil pollution into water supplies The effects of water pollution include decreasing the quantity of drinkable water available, lowering water supplies for crop irrigation and impacting fish and wildlife that require water of certain purity for survival.
oil spills Crude oil is a major energy provider for the world today; but when accidents happen, crude oil becomes a major pollutant for our world. An oil spill is an accident that occurs when a transport vehicles, oil rigs, pipe lines, or tankers have malfunctions and release oil into the surrounding environment affects the surrounding area. There are two types of oil spills: those occurring on land, and those in water. Land spills can usually be contained and cleaned up easily, while oil spreads and becomes more dangerous in ocean spills. Oil spills have a number of effects on the environment and economy.
Also chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), chemicals found mainly in spray aerosols heavily used by industrialized nations for much of the past 50 years, are the primary culprits in ozone layer breakdown (1996-2013 National Geographic Society). When CFCs make their way to the upper atmosphere, they are exposed to UV rays, which then cause them to break down into chemicals such as chlorine (1996-2013 National Geographic Society). Once it has broken down into chlorine, it then reacts with the oxygen atoms in the ozone and rips apart the molecules (1996-2013 National Geographic Society).
Unfortunately, the activity of burning or combusting fossil fuels releases various kinds of hazardous substances and pollutants which eventually leads to changes in the environment; such as climate change, global warming, and changes in environmental health. Let us start with the change in climate or climate change. For over the past 150 years, the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal and oil have caused the concentrations of heat-trapping "greenhouse gases" to increase significantly in our atmosphere. These gases prevent heat from escaping to space, somewhat like the glass panels of a greenhouse. It would change our climate, but it would not bring us close to the level of uninhabitable Venus.