NOVA - Sand Wars

http://pbsamerica.co.uk/sand-wars

To most of us, sand is simply the stuff that we find on the beach when we go on holiday. We take its presence for granted, but are we right to do so? Denis Delestrac's film suggests otherwise.

Sand is one of the most consumed natural resources on the planet. As a raw material, it is of huge importance to the building and construction industry – indeed, houses, skyscrapers, bridges, airports, and pavements are all partially composed of sand. Melted and transformed into glass, it features in every window. It is also the source of silicon dioxide, a mineral found in our wines, cleaning products, cosmetics and an astounding variety of other products that we use on a daily basis. As demand rises in an increasingly industrialised world, however, the planet's reserves of sand are coming under threat. It is estimated that three quarters of the world's beaches are in decline and likely to disappear. Such is the demand for the material that sand has even attracted the attention of the criminal fraternity, who have taken to plundering beaches and rivers for what is becoming a prized commodity. So what does the future hold as we continue to extract huge quantities of a natural resource that we seem to consider inexhaustible, and what will be the consequences for the environment? This film asks some troubling questions and we may not like the answers.