A Civilization Built on Sand – Le Figaro

Sand extraction in Villeneuve-sur-Verberie, France, c 1910 (Dury, editor, Public domain, via Wikimedia).

How ‘Yellow Gold’ Became a Resource Under Pressure…Sand is the second most consumed resource in the world after fresh water. Substance of our concrete civilization, its demand will intensify in the years to come. A situation that generates geopolitical tensions…

Looting of the sea: the great sand theft – ABC

Sand mining, Mizoram, India (by Karen Conniff CC BY-NC 2.0 courtesy of Water Alternatives Photos via Flickr).

It is the most demanded raw material after water. It is used to make concrete, chips, detergents, paints… and even artificial islands. The big cities are hungry for sand and to satisfy it, the world’s beaches are being plundered….

S A N D : Essential . . . Unregulated . . . and Dwindling

Sand Mining in Quarry Lake, Tahirpur, Bangladesh (by Hasin Hayder on unsplash).

“Sand is the foundation of human construction and a fundamental ingredient in concrete, asphalt, glass and other building materials. But sand, like other natural resources, is limited and its ungoverned extraction is driving erosion, flooding, the salination of aquifers and the collapse of coastal defences…”