Demand for gas and oil is increasing and so finding new sources in remote and untouched areas is a necessity. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

As countries around the world continue to modernise and develop, there is more consumerism, industry, and transport and a corresponding need for more gas and oil. One option to meet

this

demand is to find it in

otherwise

untouched and remote places,

such

as the North Pole.

However

, I believe that doing

this

is not the right solution. There are benefits to

such

a strategy.

This

is

firstly

the fact that people wish to improve their living standards, particularly in developing countries, and fuels

such

as oil and gas allow

this

as they enable the heating of homes, the running of cars and planes, and the production of goods. All of these result in higher living standards, and

thus

we need to keep finding new sources since we will eventually run out.

However

, despite

this

, there are major problems with exploiting untouched and remote locations. One issue is that we will end up potentially jeopardising what are beautiful landscapes.

For instance

, an area which countries would like to drill is the Antarctic, home to many glaciers and animals

such

as polar bears and penguins. Drilling here would harm the habitat, and

in particular

, any spillages would be disastrous to the environment. Not only

this

, due to health issues and global warming, we should no longer be seeking to use

such

forms of energy. It is evident that the use of these fuels on a wide-scale has led to the pollution of many cities and the subsequent poor health of its citizens where car use is so high.

Also

, carbon dioxide is getting released into the atmosphere, and

this

may be endangering our very existence.

Therefore

, we should be aiming to utilise more eco-friendly options

such

as wind and sun for power and electricity for cars. To conclude,

although

there is an advantage of finding new places to get oil and gas, which is that we can sustain and improve our living standards, the negative impacts outweigh

this

as we will damage those environments, as well as continue to harm our health and the planet.