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In regards to the environment, I believe that many people know how to ‘do their bit’ in terms of being conscious of not wasting too much water, recycling plastic bags and walking or cycling more etc. However, in terms of having a bigger impact, I feel that many people, particularly teenagers, may not be informed of the events occurring around the world which are adding to the problems of global warming for example, and these environmental problems are destroying the world we live in. This article will aim to inform and highlight the environmental issues occurring today, specifically regarding fracking.

For those of you who do not have any idea what fracking means here is a definition; fracking is the controversial process of drilling down into rocks, to extract gas. The technique dates back to 1947, but has become a fairly recent phenomenon particularly in the United States. By fracturing rock, a liquid is injected with high-pressure consisting of water and sand in order to prevent the cracks from closing up.

In the United-States fracking has become highly popular because of the fact that the extraction of the gas means that electricity prices can be lowered in Europe. Consequently, they are making vast sums of money from this process as the technique facilitates the ease of getting this gas which was otherwise hard to get. Though the Americans have revolutionised the energy industry, they are also contributing massively to climate change. Not using renewables, and instead using fossil fuels, are they not taking a step back?

However, the environmental risks are not very well-known yet, but they are said to be:

- Water pollution, with contamination of drinking water.

- The destruction of areas of land.

- Possible earthquakes due to the non-reusable liquid being injected into the earth.

- Greenhouse gases due to CO2 emissions.

- Noise.

It is intriguing to note that France is the first country in the world to ban the technique of fracking in 2011 because of their environmental concerns. However, in other countries there have been no laws to restrict fracking, which consequently suggests that fracking is continuing to cause more and more environmental damage around the world. Can you do something about this?

Many people, even teenagers, participate in demonstrations and protest across the country to try and alert the government about the dangers of fracking. There are also many petitions you are able to sign.

Here is the link to the GreenPeace petition if you are interested: 

https://secure.greenpeace.org.uk/page/s/fracking-signup

Make sure you do your bit.

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