Shale Gas is supposed to be the next big in finding new sources of Natural resources. For more information on Shale Gas this US Gov website would help US GOV. It is available in abundance in the US and its reserves are widely available in China and India, the two new giant consumers of our energy sources. But what damage does it cause to our delicate environment?
The process of extracting oil and gas from these shale fields is explained here. Shale Fields
In the link above the video explains how shale gas is extracted. Wells are drilled in the ground, which are far deeper than the wells drilled for normal oil and gas extraction. This makes them much more dangerous as these are closer to the drinking water sources that local populations use. There have been many previous instances of companies polluting land and the surrounding resources and then just leaving them. The biggest fear with extraction of shale gas is the mixing and polluting of the close by water resources. This European Parliament report gives details of the dangers Shale gas drilling has on water resources European Parliament. There have been instances of Methane mixing with the water resources and making the water saltier.
There has not been enough research on long-term effects of drinking methane-polluted water and therefore it might not be as bad for a human body as it sounds. One can be sure about that though only after the full effects of it can be found out.
The biggest problem would be the instability caused in the tectonic plates due to the drilling and the fracking. There have already been instances where the drilling for shale gas has caused earthquakes Earthquake and compromised the integrity of the wells so that is one area where we will have to look very carefully before deciding if we want to base our future on such a dangerous natural resource.