The Sand Crisis

Writer: Cassie Atkinson

Luxurious beachside resorts are characterized by their pristine views of the ocean, perfectly unmanicured vegetation, swaying palm trees, and the white, powdery sand laid along the bay- like silk scarf. Developers of these destinations create a naturally believable connection and relationship to the landscape, with each part artificially constructed for the vacationer’s desire. In an article by The Guardian, naturalist Desmond Morris deems tourists’ wish for a flawless getaway understandable, considering humans the descendants of water-loving apes.

However, building paradise has consequences, especially through sand mining, the practice of extracting large quantities of sand from beaches, inland dunes, riverbeds, and various locations in the ocean for infrastructure material and beach enhancement. This operation is detrimental to local ecosystems and structures, and the global environment altogether.

Removing sand from aquatic areas is removing the base of the landscape. Without the weight sand brings to coastlines, coastlines rapidly erode, leaving the next formation of earth vulnerable to the ocean’s unpredictable strength of weathering. The ocean’s strength only increases with global warming, as the chance of destructive storms and flooding rises. According to an Insider article about this specific erosion, “up to 90% of the world’s beaches have shrunk an average of 40 meters since 2008,” making need for replenishing the areas rise in hope of protecting the land dwellers from incoming floods.

Subsequently, sand is mined to prevent damage, and the floor of aquatic life becomes damaged and eliminated. Turbidity, opaqueness of a liquid caused by the presence of individual particles, increases through sand mining, as extraction of sand causes considerable movement of water. Turbidity creates a layer sunlight cannot penetrate, killing off the oxygen-producers, aquatic plants, and consequently killing fish and coral. Animals dependent on fish suffer too, creating a butterfly effect, forcing species to become extinct, aquatic or not.

Damage has been recognized by governments, including the United States. Policies were put in place to regulate amounts, locations, and quality of sand mined. Even so, the environmental problems persist. Unless direct intervention and strict sand mining rules are enforced, the crisis will continue.

Sources:

Hübler, Michael, and Frank Pothen. “Can Smart Policies Solve the Sand Mining Problem?” PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0248882.

“Is the World Running out of Sand? the Truth behind Stolen Beaches and Dredged Islands.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 1 July 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/global/2018/jul/01/riddle-of-the-sands-the-truth-behind- stolen-beaches-and-dredged-islands.

Ludacer, Rob. “The World Is Running out of Sand - and There's a Black Market for It Now.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 11 June 2018, https://www.businessinsider.com/world- running-out-sand-resources-concrete-2018-6.