Fracking Would Emit Large Quantities of Greenhouse Gases

Fracking Would Emit Large Quantities of Greenhouse Gases

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Add methane emissions to the growing list of environmental risks posed by fracking.

Opposition to the hydraulic fracturing of deep shales to release natural gas rose sharply last year over worries that the large volumes of chemical-laden water used in the operations could contaminate drinking water. Then, in early January, earthquakes in Ohio were blamed on the disposal of that water in deep underground structures. Now, two Cornell University professors state that fracking releases large amounts of natural gas, which consists mostly of methane, directly into the atmosphere—much more than previously thought.