Frracking Or Hydraulic Fracking
Originally power plants companies would burn coal to get power but they soon realized this was causing way too much greenhouse gasses. So they decided to switch over to burning natural gas because it released fewer greenhouse gases. But in getting natural gas, by the means of fracking, would release even more harmful chemicals into the atmosphere. After fracking is done the leftover wastewater is then let into open air pits so that it can be evaporated. This evaporated water also knows as VOC (volatile organic compounds) are released into the atmosphere that can have serious side effects. The VOC can create contaminated air, acid rain and ground level ozone. Many of the chemicals released are benzene, toluene, xylene and ethyl benzene, particulate matter and dust, ground level ozone, or smog, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and metals. One of the major VOC is known as methane and is known to cause climate change. Methane is leaked out during fracking that can escape into the atmosphere and affect the climate. Methane is a chemical that is able to 25 times more heat if in the atmosphere. While power plants thought using natural gas would be a better alternative than burning coal, the process to get it is still causes the same effect. Not only does fracking affect the atmosphere but it can also have huge effects on our health. Like I said early in this paper, fracking can affect humans who have drank fracking fluid by causing sensory, respiratory, and neurological damage. Not only can fracking affect people have come in contact with its waste fluid but it can also affect people who are just simply