Environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing in the United States

There are thousands of abandoned and unplugged oil wells throughout shallow waters, wetlands, and offshore along the Gulf of Mexico that pose environmental risks, according to new research.Chat GPT-4 Worth the Upgrade? | Future TechA study published in Nature Energy found that there are 14,000 orphaned oil and gas wells in waters throughout the Gulf of Mexico’s waters and in Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas. They created a cost analysis for plugging these idle wells after collecting data on more than 80,000 wells drilled in…

A fracking site in the oil town of Midland, Texas. Photo: Spencer Platt (Getty Images)An earthquake that shook West Texas on Friday may be one of the strongest ever recorded in the state, the Associated Press reported. The magnitude 5.4 quake struck at around 5:35 p.m. local time about 14 miles (22 kilometers) north of Midland. It comes just a month after another 5.4 quake in the region, and officials are investigating whether that earlier quake is linked to local fracking by the oil and gas industry. The National…

A fracking site is situated on the outskirts of town in the Permian Basin oil field on January 21, 2016 in the oil town of Midland, Texas. Photo: Spencer Platt (Getty Images)The Railroad Commission Texas, which regulates the state’s oil and gas industry, is investigating a 5.4-magnitude earthquake that rocked communities in West Texas last Wednesday, The Texas Tribune reports. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a drilling technique common in the area that is known tocause earthquakes.According to the U.S. Geological…