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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSomething I learned today: The Deadly Global War for Sand
http://www.wired.com/2015/03/illegal-sand-mining/<Snip>
OUR CIVILIZATION IS literally built on sand. People have used it for construction since at least the time of the ancient Egyptians. In the 15th century, an Italian artisan figured out how to turn sand into transparent glass, which made possible the microscopes, telescopes, and other technologies that helped drive the Renaissances scientific revolution (also, affordable windows). Sand of various kinds is an essential ingredient in detergents, cosmetics, toothpaste, solar panels, silicon chips, and especially buildings; every concrete structure is basically tons of sand glued together with cement.
Sandsmall, loose grains of rock and other hard stuffcan be made by glaciers grinding up stones, by oceans degrading seashells, even by volcanic lava chilling and shattering upon contact with air. But nearly 70 percent of all sand grains on Earth are quartz, formed by weathering. Time and the elements eat away at rock, above and below the ground, grinding off grains. Rivers carry countless tons of those grains far and wide, accumulating them in their beds, on their banks, and at the places where they meet the sea.
Apart from water and air, humble sand is the natural resource most consumed by human beings. People use more than 40 billion tons of sand and gravel every year. Theres so much demand that riverbeds and beaches around the world are being stripped bare. (Desert sand generally doesnt work for construction; shaped by wind rather than water, desert grains are too round to bind together well.) And the amount of sand being mined is increasing exponentially.
Though the supply might seem endless, sand is a finite resource like any other. The worldwide construction boom of recent yearsall those mushrooming megacities, from Lagos to Beijingis devouring unprecedented quantities; extracting it is a $70 billion industry. In Dubai enormous land-reclamation projects and breakneck skyscraper-building have exhausted all the nearby sources. Exporters in Australia are literally selling sand to Arabs.
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Something I learned today: The Deadly Global War for Sand (Original Post)
LiberalArkie
Mar 2015
OP
Yeah, actually I know that. This is not a new problem, I've read about it before. nt
bemildred
Mar 2015
#5
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)1. "desert grains are too round to bind together well"
Perhaps someone could find a way to mill them, as is done with salt crystals?
bemildred
(90,061 posts)2. Yep, Saudi Arabia has chronic shortages of sand. nt
LiberalArkie
(15,728 posts)3. Not the kind of sand that can be used in concrete.
Wella
(1,827 posts)4. The article posted is more poetic than informative
Perhaps that's why you got that remark.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)5. Yeah, actually I know that. This is not a new problem, I've read about it before. nt
NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)6. Interesting read.
It never occurred to me that desert sand wasn't good for construction.