Fracking 101
Channel: 350.org
Date: 2024-03-26

On #worldwaterday2024  💧 we acknowledge how crucial water is for peace and security. But, around the world, fracking contaminates and destroys clean water sources. How? ⁠
⁠
Fracking injects large quantities of water, sand and chemicals at high pressure into the ground to release trapped shale oil and gas. Every shale well can use up to millions of gallons of water, making it necessary for large quantities of fresh water to be available. ⁠
⁠
Most of the water used for fracking comes from surface water like lakes and rivers, but groundwater can be also used to increase surface water supplies. ⁠
⁠
EnergyTransition.org writes "based on the U.S. and Canada fracking average, we can assume that drilling a single well will require between 2 to 10 million gallons of water – enough to fill between 3 and 15 Olympic-sized swimming pools."⁠
⁠
That's a lot of clean water that would otherwise have supplied local communities. ⁠
⁠
When water is scarce or polluted — or when people have unequal, or no access — tensions can rise between communities and countries.⁠
⁠
As climate change impacts increase, and populations grow, there is an urgent need, within and between countries, to unite around protecting and conserving our most precious resource.⁠
⁠
We can foster harmony by uniting around the fair and sustainable use of water – this means transitioning away from harmful  fossil fuel projects that destroy communities, and moving towards renewable, clean energy for all
#climatechange #fossilfuel #fracking #watercontamination #energy