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Fossil fuels affect us, and the world over, everyday. If we are not complaining about the price of petrol, then it is the utility bill at the end of the month. We rely on them, but they come with a frightening fee…
In the news today, methane is leaking from the Arctic, a gas rig is on fire in the Gulf of Mexico and China is using scarce water supplies due to their thirst for coal. Fossil fuels might be formed by natural processes, but there is nothing natural about the price of them. Whether it be mining, drilling or pumping, the UK spends billions of pounds on the global operation of fuel extraction every year.
Now you might have thought that water would be one thing that is more important than Coal. Not if you live in China. There are only two thirds of the rivers left from 20 years ago in China, yet some of the remaining ones are being blocked in order to pump millions of litres of water away from towns with an already scarce water supply. Why? In order to aid the extracting, washing and processing of coal.
A leaking gas rig in the Gulf of Mexico has been on fire for the last 24 hours. Not only are the valuable natural gases burning up by the minute, but the problem has forced all of the staff on the rig to evacuate, driven traffic out of the hazardous area and even restricted aircraft from coming 2,000ft above the sea. All of which just adds to the cost sheet for fossil fuels.
HOWEVER, both coal extraction in China and a gas rig fire in the Gulf of Mexico seem like a pretty minor cost in comparison to the latest ‘big’ environmental news…
An estimated cost of £39 trillion has been put on a ‘time bomb’ in the Arctic. 50-gigatonnes of methane may be on its way due to thawing permafrost. We all know about rising temperatures and the results on the Arctic tundra, which holds large concentrated amounts of the gas. This could come as a whopping cost to us all, as its been said that developing countries could feel the impacts the most. After all, £39 trillion amounts roughly to the size of the global economy last year…
