On March 28, 2016, National Geographic published an online article about the increased risk of earthquakes and its correlation with the human activities (Gilman, 2016). Most people believe that earthquakes are natural hazards caused by tectonic plate movement, but the article written by Sarah Gilman shows that earthquakes in Oklahoma region including some parts of Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Colorado, and Arkansas are human-induced. The article talks about the oil industry’s impact on the increased risk of earthquakes in the area, and this impact is mostly caused by hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and horizontal drilling. Gilman shows that there were less than 100 fracking-caused earthquakes between 1970 and 2009, but in 2015 this number significantly increased and there were 907 earthquakes in the region.
Oil companies fire a slurry of chemicals, sand and water into the ground with an aim to release hydrocarbons. As a result, gas and oil rise to the surface, but they also come with brackish groundwater, and oil companies reinject this groundwater back into the earth. This water creates pressure on the deep rock layer, and this becomes the main cause of earthquakes.
Magnitude of earthquakes has increased as well, and many people in the area suffer from temblors. Many people had their houses damaged, and considering that there is a high seismic risk in the Oklahoma region, the cost of insurance protection has increased as well. As a result, people have to pay more for their insurance because energy companies continue fracking. Although this industrial activity influences lithosphere the most, population of the Oklahoma region continues suffering from the increased number of earthquakes, and it is expected that the number of earthquakes will increase on a yearly basis.
An article written by Jon Gertner for the New York Times Magazine is devoted to the melting of ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica (Gertner, 2015). In his article, Gertner states that human activity has been the main source of the climate change, and, in turn, this change has become the main cause of ice sheets’ melting. The main problem is that melting of glaciers will have a significant impact on the sea-level rise. Three primary causes will lead to the rise of the sea level. The first reason is that the temperature is getting warmer, and the higher the temperature, the more water expands. Second reason is that mountain glaciers are melting and draining to the ocean. This melting happens in many regions of the world, from Alaska to Argentina, and will have significant negative consequences. Finally, the third reason is that ice sheets are melting, and billions of tons of ice turn into melted water every year.
Melting takes place all over the world, and people do not take sufficient efforts to stop this melting. This article talks about a 3.2 rise of the sea level by the end of this century. Although it is mentioned in the article that in case Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets melt entirely, the sea level will have a rise of more than 200 feet. However, the 10 feet rise of the sea level will lead to the worst consequences and it would be enough to drown many large cities, such as New York or New Orleans.
Billions of people will be affected by the rise of the sea level, as they will have to move from lowland regions to other areas of their countries. Some countries may disappear from the world map is ice sheets continue melting as they do right now.
Right now, melting mostly affects hydrosphere, but, potentially, melting of glaciers will have an influence on atmosphere and biosphere as well. An author of the article says that melting can become an omen of future catastrophes, and all necessary actions should be taken to stop this process.
References
Gertner, J. (2016, November 12). The Secrets in Greenland’s Ice Sheets. The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/
Gilman, S. (2016, March 28). New Map Shows Rise in Human-Caused Earthquake Risk. National Geographic. Retrieved from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/
