During tonight’s national coverage fracking was a topic brought up on multiple occasions. Can someone explain what it is and the pros and cons of it? Need it because a google search did not help :/
In: Biology
Fracking involves pumping mostly water deep down into the ground, where previously unreachable deposits of oil and fractured methane (“natural gas”) are. Horizontal drilling is also used. Pumping high pressure water into the ground fractures underground rock. This rock often contains oil or methane which is then piped to the surface.
The NRDC has a good explanation, [here.](https://www.nrdc.org/stories/fracking-101#work)
The cons include:
* [Damaged water supplies](https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1100682108)
* [Increased amount of earthquakes](https://phys.org/news/2023-08-fracking-earthquakes.html)
* More CO2 and methane emissions in the atmosphere.
Pros:
* More oil and gas is available without having to find and drill entirely new wells, which is time consuming and expensive.
* Old, previously abandoned/unproductive wells can produce again.
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