1. Human impact: extraction of energy resources

2. Fossil Fuels
Fossil fuels are energy sources that formed over thousands to millions of years as a result of compression and decomposition of plant and animal material.
Considered to be a nonrenewable resource.

4. METHODS FOR OBTAINING ENERGY RESOURCES
Harvesting (peat and wood)
Mining (coal and uranium)
Drilling (oil and natural gas)

5. HARVESTING
Least intrusive method of obtaining energy, less disturbance of the lithosphere
Resources, such as peat and wood, can be restored over time

6. Mining
Mining is the process of removing metals and minerals from the lithosphere, often times at great depths beneath the surface. Much more intrusive and destructive than harvesting. EX: coal

7. Environmental Impacts of Mining
(1) Deforestation destroys local habitats
(2) Land and water pollution occurring during process of mining
(3) Erosion rates increase at site of mining

8. Drilling
Drilling is the process of removing fluid, typically crude oil or natural gas, that is beneath Earth’s surface
Not as intrusive as
mining, but not as
environmentally
friendly as harvesting

11. Environmental Impacts of Drilling
Possible oil spills
Infrastructure development for drilling fields infringes on local habitats
Byproducts produced by drilling pollute land and water

12. Drilling Impacts on Environment

13. Fracking
Fracking is the process of extracting natural gas from shale rock layers deep within the earth
Concerns about fracking include:
(1) Groundwater contamination
(2) Triggering earthquakes?
(3) Dangerous explosions

15. Fracking in North Carolina
North Carolina is believed to hold 1.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas trapped in shale gas formations underground and concentrated in Chatham, Lee and Moore counties.
Supporters of fracking in the legislature said natural gas would produce a domestic fuel to help offset oil imported from hostile regimes as well as dirty coal mined by mountain-top removal. They also touted the creation of several hundred jobs over seven years.
Critics talked of short-term jobs, destroyed roadways, marred landscapes, polluted air and contaminated water