A global shortage of sand is prompting black-market gangs to
steal large amounts from rivers and beaches. Scientists are warning that the
global supply of sand is slipping through our fingers.
Statistics show that worldwide, we go through 50 billion tons of
sand every year – twice the amount produced by every river in the world during
the same period.
According to writer and journalist Vince Beiser, who wrote a
book on the subject, “Sand
is the essential ingredient that makes modern life possible. And we are starting
to run out.”
That’s mainly because the number and size of cities is
exploding, especially in the developing world, Beiser told Business Insider.
“Every year there are more people on the planet, and every year
more of them move to cities. Since 1950, the world’s urban population has
ballooned to over 3.9 billion from 746 million,” he
said.
The
demand for construction aggregates will rise by 5.2 percent annually to 51.7
billion tons in 2019, according to researcher Freedonia Group. Some estimate
that sand’s share of the aggregate business is already worth $70 billion in
annual sales.
Up to 90 percent of the world’s beaches have shrunk by an
average of 40 meters since 2008. Popular shores have replenished their dying
beaches with even more sand, imported from elsewhere. Up to 70 percent of
Southern California’s beaches could be completely eroded by 2100.
China has used more sand in recent years than the United States
did throughout the 20th century. In India, sand has become such a hot commodity
that it has been taken over by organized crime, which illegally mines and sells
it on the black market. The Sand Mafia, India’s strongest criminal
organization, employs 75,000 people to dive for sand in rivers. Divers work
12-hour days, diving up to 200 times and making only $15 per boatload.
Richest 1% will own two-thirds of global wealth by
2030 https://t.co/V9PkGcTKBkpic.twitter.com/QoasKLdSQG
— RT
(@RT_com) April 9, 2018
The UN Environmental Program has already suggested better
pricing and taxing on sand mining. They also recommended an immediate need to
create regulations in all countries, as well as in international waters.
“We’re on track to be a planet of at least nine billion people in
the next 20 years. Most of them are going to want to consume resources the way
we do in the Western world, and that is just physically impossible,” said
Beiser.
Reprinted from RT News.