We are running out of sand

[story]

Only water is extracted from the environment more than sand.

The sand used in concrete has to be of a particular size, with the right angularity. Desert sand is no good because it’s smoother, weathered. But I can imagine them working
out how to strip the deserts and find a way to use that sand too,

The right kind of sand is mainly found in rivers. So it’s being dredged out. The precipitous increase in concrete buildings has led to increased requirements, and now we’ve got to the point of using too much. The inevitable result of this is that the trade in sand is increasingly corrupt.

Fragile environments being irrevocably changed by unscrupulous people. Plus ça change.


There are some greener alternatives but of course the juggernaut of destruction is not stopping any time soon.


Here‘s a video about the issue.





A couple more links.

Why the world is running out of sand

It may be little more than grains of weathered rock, and can be found on deserts and beaches around the world, but sand is also the world’s second most consumed natural resource.

www.bbc.com

We are running out of sand and global demand could soar 45% by 2060

Global building sand demand is projected to jump from 3.2 billion tonnes a year in 2020 to 4.6 billion tonnes by 2060, led by countries in Africa and Asia.

www.newscientist.com

I didn’t know about this till today. As soon as I learned it, it was really fucking obvious that it was always going to get to this point.

 

[danny la rouge]

It was a toss up between shocked, sad and angry reaction there. But, yes, it seems obvious now that I know it.

 

[quimcunx]

I remember something about this a few years back, maybe a podcast. It was mostly about China, iirc with all the cities they've been building recently. I'd presumed before that beach and desert sand were used. Not that those have limitless supplies either.

We need such a sea change in attitudes to all earth's resources and how we live.

 

[gosub]

China Is Stealing Taiwan’s Sand

A surprisingly precious resource is another front in gray-zone warfare.

foreignpolicy.com

 

[story]

The sand mafia ( really ) actually kill people about access to sand.

He who controls the sand: the mining 'mafias' killing each other to build cities

Rapid urbanisation has made an ordinary commodity suddenly precious: sand. As cities continue to voraciously need concrete, glass and asphalt, illegal sand mining has sparked a global wave of gang violence

www.theguardian.com

 

[story]

And of course it’s having local effects on peoples homes and lives.

In Vietnam's Mekong Delta, sand mining means lost homes and fortunes

Residents of the Mekong Delta are seeing houses tumble into rivers and livelihoods disappear due to erosion driven by sand mining

www.thethirdpole.net

 

[story]

Not to mention the environmental impact.


They just suck up the sand, regardless of any of the animals living there.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969722029746

Uncovering sand mining’s impacts on the world’s rivers

WWF research details potential threats posed by world’s largest mining industry and possible solutions

wwf.panda.org

A demand for sand: how does this impact nature and biodiversity?

Every day, every person on the planet consumes 18kg of sand and aggregates. Sadly, our thirst for sand is having major consequences on our planet’s environment.

from.ncl.ac.uk

‘Totally unsustainable’ sand mining harms marine environments, new data suggest

New data suggest that the extraction of sand from marine environments — known as “sand mining” — is happening at an unsustainable rate across the world. However, experts say there are solutions to mitigate this activity’s damaging effects. Recently, the U.N. warned that the dredging industry is...

news.mongabay.com

 

[story]

God we’re so fucking dumb

Global Sand Mining Is Destroying the Planet and Costing Lives - EcoWatch

Demand for construction sand is rising faster than supply, pushing even countries in the Middle East to import it from as far away as Australia and Canada.

www.ecowatch.com

 

[Elpenor]

It’s a serious issue but for a start confiscate all sand from golf courses (and rewild the golf courses or turn them into parks like Beckenham place)