Josh Gabbatiss - Sand mafias and vanishing islands: How the world is dealing with the global sand shortage
Sand seems like a
limitless resource, but mounting evidence suggests this is far from the case. We use sand as a key
ingredient in the production of glass, electronics and – most importantly –
concrete, but the growing need for construction materials means in some parts
of the world, supplies of sand are dwindling rapidly. Sand and gravel are
now the most extracted materials in the world by weight, and since these
products take thousands of years to form by erosion, demand is beginning to
outstrip supply.The United Nations
Environment Programme estimated that in 2012 the world used nearly 30 billion
tons of these materials just to make concrete – enough to construct a wall 27m
high by 27m wide around the equator.
While much has been
made of the impact infrastructure developments such as roads and buildings have
on the surrounding environment, little attention has been paid to the impact of
extracting raw materials such as sand to build that infrastructure. As scientists
wake up to this new problem, it is becoming clear that sand scarcity is an
issue with significant sociopolitical, economic and environmental implications.
Dr Aurora Torres, an
ecologist at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, is one of
a handful of scientists investigating this issue. Two years ago she
began to research sand scarcity in depth, and soon found the problem was far
bigger than she initially thought. “As we were digging
into this topic, we started to find lots of conflict across the world, and lots
of evidence that sand is becoming increasingly scarce – especially this year,”
says Torres. Torres and her
collaborators outlined their findings in a
recent paper in the journal Science titled “A looming
tragedy of the sand commons”.
Historically, sand has
been a common-pool resource extracted and used locally. But a combination of
regional shortages, increased regulation and appreciation of sand mining’s
environmental impact has turned sand from a local product into an expensive, globalised
commodity. The trade value of
sand has increased by almost six fold in the last 25 years. In the US alone,
where sand production has increased by 24 per cent in the past five years, the
sand industry is worth nearly $9bn (£6.7bn).
Though sand extraction
rates are high across Europe and North America, the biggest consumers of sand
are fast-growing Asian nations. “Where it tends to
happen is India, China, places where you have rapid and large amounts of
construction,” says Dr John Orr, an engineer and expert in concrete
structures at the University of Cambridge... read more:
