Составьте аннотацию по данному тексту (8-10 предложений). Midstream is the function of the oil and gas industry that provides the vital link between producing areas and the population centers where industrial refining and residential customers are located, Field gathering, processing plants und transmission pipelines are the major assets in the midstream industry. Transportation assets include marine vessels, railroads and trucking fleets. Storage assets also exist throughout this chain. The four key business characteristics of the midstream segment: - is generally a low risk business; - contains regulated components; - assets investments are dependent on health of upstream: - oil and gas market prices affect demand. The business of moving oil and gas around is considered very low capital risk. Historically in most integrated oil companies, midstream segment was considered a small part of upstream and downstream the operation. It wasn't until the 1980s the US companies began spinning off these assets in the publicly traded Master Limited Partnerships or MLPS. The midstream fields gathering and processing sector is relatively free of commercial regulation. However, interstate transmission pipelines and subsequent state and local gaS distribution rates are highly regulated in the US by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (or FERC). Midstream investment can become highly politicized and even subject to executive decision in the US if the proposed infrastructure crosses an international border. Midstream is literally stuck in the middle. It depends on the both healthy upstream supply and strong consumer demand. Without a steady supply of oil and gas, there is nothing to process, transport and store., On the other hand, 14 without demand from downstream commercial, industrial and retail consumers the need to bring these supplies to market is diminished. Let's describe the four major operating components of midstream. The first step in the midstream process is field gathering. Oil and natural gas production comes from thousands of wells. Oil is moved through a "spideweb" of small- diameter pipelines to a central location. Here, a tank volume large enough to efficiently be sent to a refinery by truck, pipeline, barge or rail is gathered. Natural gas is a little different. Unlike crude oil, it cannot be stored at or near the well, A series of smaller diameter pipelines moves it to a central treating or processing facility to remove water and impurities and separate out the NGLS. The natural gas primarily methane can then enter a large diameter transmission pipeline to be moved to end-users. Field processing requires surface units that are designed and installed to: - measure the production rate of oil and gas water from the reservoir; - separate the oil and gas from the wastewater; - remove any impurities; - temporarily store it until it's ready to be moved. Fractionation plants separate the high-valued Natural Gas Liquids, or NGLS, from natural gas production. These NGLS are used as blend components in refineries and as feedstock in manufacture of petrochemicals. And be sure not to confuse NGLS with LNG (or Liquefied Natural Gas). After field processing, treated oil and natural gas is delivered via a huge and complex transportation, pipeline transmission and distribution infrastructure. Natural gas, which flows at a much higher pressure than crude oil is most often transported in large diameter, inter and intrastate regulated pipelines, LNG is natural gas that has been converted to liquid for easier transport and storage. This occurs when the gas is cooled to approximately-162 degrees Celsius or - 15 260 degrees Fahrenheit. Large LNG vessels are used to transport natural gas for international shipments. To transport crude oil, pipelines are also the safest and most efficient shipment method. However, truck and rail are more flexible in terms of timing and being able to ship to alternative and multiple destinations. Today in the US the importance of rail cannot be underestimated. Most US shale oil places do not have access to the existing pipelines. For example, there is very little infrastructure in oil plays such as the Bakken, in North Dakota. Therefore, over 75% of the 1 million barrels a day of Bakken production is moved by rail. Storage for crude oil and refined products is pretty straightforward. Methods include field tank batteries, product bulk terminals, refinery tanks and holding tanks. But natural gas is different. Because of its large volumes and high pressure, natural gas is generally stored underground until it is ready to be transported to market. Depleted gas reservoirs, salt caverns and aquifers are common storage facilities.
In Brief:
The effects of human-caused global warming are happening now, are irreversible on the timescale of people alive today, and will worsen in the decades to come.
Global climate change has already had observable effects on the environment. Glaciers have shrunk, ice on rivers and lakes is breaking up earlier, plant and animal ranges have shifted and trees are flowering sooner.
Effects that scientists had predicted in the past would result from global climate change are now occurring: loss of sea ice, accelerated sea level rise and longer, more intense heat waves.
Taken as a whole, the range of published evidence indicates that the net damage costs of climate change are likely to be significant and to increase over time.
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Scientists have high confidence that global temperatures will continue to rise for decades to come, largely due to greenhouse gases produced by human activities. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which includes more than 1,300 scientists from the United States and other countries, forecasts a temperature rise of 2.5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the next century.
According to the IPCC, the extent of climate change effects on individual regions will vary over time and with the ability of different societal and environmental systems to mitigate or adapt to change.
The IPCC predicts that increases in global mean temperature of less than 1.8 to 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit (1 to 3 degrees Celsius) above 1990 levels will produce beneficial impacts in some regions and harmful ones in others. Net annual costs will increase over time as global temperatures increase.
"Taken as a whole," the IPCC states, "the range of published evidence indicates that the net damage costs of climate change are likely to be significant and to increase over time." 1-2
Future Effects
Some of the long-term effects of global climate change in the United States are as follows, according to the Third and Fourth National Climate Assessment Reports:
Change Will Continue Through This Century and Beyond
Global climate is projected to continue to change over this century and beyond.
Global climate is projected to continue to change over this century and beyond. The magnitude of climate change beyond the next few decades depends primarily on the amount of heat-trapping gases emitted globally, and how sensitive the Earth’s climate is to those emissions.
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