Fossil fuel is formed from decayed plants or animals under high pressure, high temperature and bacteria action. To find oil and natural gas, companies drill through the earth to the deposits deep below the surface. The oil and natural gas are then pumped from below the ground by oil rigs (like in the picture above). They then usually travel through pipelines, like the ones in the picture to the right in Alaska.

Solid Waste ~ dumped on the surface adjacent to the working site e.g. the old coal mining areas of South Wales and Scotland had 26% and 23% of all spoil tips in the United Kingdom but over 80% of these were no longer in use. Silts From Stone Washing And Dust

Collapse Of The Overlying Strata ~ damage to buildings, roads, underground pipes, sewers and cables, and to agriculture through the disruption of drainage systems If Incomplete Combustion And Impurities ~ contains particulate and ash, unburned hydrocarbons and other impurities ~ carcinogenic or corrosive

Deforestation > rainforests often lie on rich oil deposits, which are an extremely tempting way for a developing country to generate quick cash Destruction Of Lands > companies pull out after oil reserves decline or political problems arise, thy often leave a devastated landscape.

Oil Extraction Process Is Messy And Destructive > Spills regularly result from burst pipelines, and toxic drilling by-products are dumped directly into local creeks and rivers > Some of the more toxic chemicals are stored in open waste pits which environmentalists maintain.

>brought across the world’s ocean in a large quantity > usually by bulk carries >from Australia, Canada, China, Colombia >transported from the jetty which berth two vessels by a system of conveyors directly to the boiler bunkers or the stockyards

Enhance global warming > emission of greenhouse gases, eps. Co2 while combusting acid rain air pollution water pollution