Unbelievable but true story: the world is falling into a sand crisis

White sandy beaches, hot deserts are increasingly prone to expansion - obviously these pictures show that sand is an endless resource.

But it turned out not! According to a new report published in Science magazine, the amount of sand worldwide is dropping seriously, and this is greatly affecting the environment, endangering the community, even creating violent conflict.

And the reason is very familiar: people, but more specifically, excessive sand mining.

People are exploiting excessive sand.

For many years, science has tried to improve the quality of construction works, so that it is most effective and durable. However, the process of exploiting raw materials for rebuilding must not leave the mind properly.

According to experts, the need to use sand soared over time, plus uncontrolled exploitation to meet that demand is the perfect formula causing sand crisis.

Demand for sand is constantly skyrocketing, exploitation cannot be controlled

Sand and gravel are currently two of the most used minerals in the world. Especially sand, when this is the main material in cement, concrete, is the component of making glass and electronics.

In 2010, a total of about 11 billion tons of sand were exploited for global construction purposes only. In particular, the highest rate belongs to countries in the Asia-Pacific region, followed by Europe and North America.

A ship sprayed sand and water to build up the beach.

Not to mention a number of non-governmental organizations, these figures are not necessarily true, as many countries hide the amount of unused construction sand - such as shale mining or beach accretion. .

In the past, sand was the "self" mineral of countries. But due to skyrocketing demand, sand mining in some countries has been officially banned, making it an export product on a global scale. And when profits increase, the exploitation continues to be promoted, causing serious consequences.

Excessive sand mining and damage cannot be underestimated

The most obvious damage is to the environment , especially in countries with strong sand resources. Excessive sand mining easily changes ecosystems on rivers and coastal areas, causing serious soil erosion. In addition, it pushes endangered species, including river dolphins, crocodiles, seafood in general .

Ho Ba Duong in China and sand mining after 18 years.

Take the example of gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) - crocodiles often live on Asian rivers. They're inherently endangered, but the situation is getting worse, when sand mining from humans makes their habitat change.

Not to mention, sand mining in the sea also makes people living around dangerous. When the coast is narrowed, people are more vulnerable to floods and storms, such as the storm in Sri Lanka in 2004 as an example.

Sand mining in the sea makes people living around dangerous.

Besides, human health is also a remarkable factor. The process of sand mining accidentally leaves stagnant water holes, becoming the perfect place to nourish mosquitoes or spread other dangerous bacteria.

What did people do to stop?

Despite the damage, sand mining is still being done very strongly, since most cannot imagine the harmful scale of doing so. Currently, only a few organizations stand out, but not really effective.

The time has come, sand must be treated fairly like other limited minerals.

Hopefully, in the near future, organizations and governments will build a safe and more environmentally friendly sand mining strategy. The time has come, sand must be treated fairly like other limited minerals, if it does not want the future of the Earth to be more tragic.