The Cement Industry, One of the World’s Largest CO2 Emitters, Pledges to Cut Greenhouse Gases
Cement is the second most-consumed resource in the world, with more than 4 billion tons of the material produced globally every year. As a result, the industry generates approximately 8 percent of global CO2 emissions.
Gambian environmental activists take swift Action against Chinese plant polluting their ocean water
After activists said a Chinese-run fish processing plant – that arrived in 2014 – had failed to remove a pipe accused of spewing toxic waste into the sea, local youth issued an ultimatum: Dig the pipe up, or we will. They did, storming the beach.
French journalists labelled spies over Indian mining investigation
Two French journalists have been labelled spies and are the subject of a criminal investigation after they tried to report on sand mining in south India – an assignment they took up because Indian journalists had been threatened for reporting on the issue.
Beach sand mining in Grenada triggers loss of trees and beach erosion
To the great frustration of some residents, illegal sand mining operations have been ongoing on Grenada’s beaches. Trucks have been seen daily, driving away loaded with bags of beach sand.
Corporate Sand Mining In SF Bay Sparks ‘Sand Wars’
Six years ago, nonprofit environmental advocacy organization San Francisco Baykeeper sued sand-mining firm Hanson Marine Operations and the State Lands Commission to stop sand mining in the Bay. However, in November, an appeals court judge sided with the State Lands Commission and the sand mining company.
China’s search for sand is destroying Mozambique’s pristine beaches
The community of Nagonha in northern Mozambique sits on a tall dune with lush greenery on the one side, and a turquoise Indian ocean on the other. It should have been the kind of unspoiled landscape that Mozambique’s growing tourism industry is beginning to take advantage of. Instead, a Chinese mining company has irrevocably tarnished the scenery, and people’s lives.
Sierra Leone: Beaches under attack from sand miners
Twenty-four hours a day, seven-days-a-week, truckloads of sand are being hauled from the beach into Freetown to satisfy the needs of construction companies and contractors. Hundreds of tonnes of sand from the beaches is mined and sold to builders as construction material. The activity is technically illegal but laws, as is often the case, are not being implemented or enforced.
As sand mining grows, Asia’s deltas are sinking, water experts warn
Sand mining from rivers is depriving many low-lying Asian deltas of the sediment they need to maintain themselves, raising the risk of worsening land loss to sea level rise, researchers say.
A microscopic look at why the world is running out of sand; Video
The usefulness of sand depends on the science of each tiny little grain. We went on a sand scavenger hunt to collect some samples, look at them under a microscope, and try to figure out why sand scarcity is such a problem.