Many people are unaware that sand is the second-largest resource extracted and traded by humans, just behind water. The overconsumption and mindless extraction of this resource are creating a crisis.
Sand crisis in the making
A UN report released in May this year warns that large-scale sand extraction from rivers has increased pollution, lowered water aquifer levels, triggered flooding incidents, and worsened drought. At present, the global demand for sand and gravel stands at around 40 to 50 billion tons per year. International trade in these resources is expected to grow at 5.5 percent annually. The UN calls it one of the “major sustainability challenges of the 21st century.”
“Shifting consumption patterns, growing populations, increasing urbanization, and infrastructure development have increased demand for sand three-fold over the last two decades. Further, damming and extraction have reduced sediment delivery from rivers to many coastal areas, leading to reduced deposits in river deltas and accelerated beach erosion,” according to the UN Environment Programme. The depletion of this vital resource has serious consequences. According to some estimates, sea levels are expected to rise by about three feet by 2100. With this resource being extracted from the coasts, this would mean that many areas along coastlines could sink underwater.
A report suggests that sand mining worsened the impact of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami in Sri Lanka. In the U.S., Hurricane Harvey caused US$125 billion in flood damages in 2017, which could have been less if sand mining in the San Jacinto River had been curtailed. The extraction of this resource from the Mekong Delta is threatening its sustainability. It also results in more significant intrusion of saltwater into rivers, ultimately threatening the region’s water and food safety.
It is thought that the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey could have been less if sand mining in the San Jacinto River had been curtailed. (Image: via Nspirement)
Health issues are another significant result of unmitigated sand mining. “Extraction activities create new standing pools of water that can become breeding sites for malaria-carrying mosquitoes. The pools may also play an important role in spreading emerging diseases such as Buruli ulcer in West Africa, a bacterial skin infection,” according to Business Standard.
The UN report suggests proper policy planning and regulation at the global level to tackle the problems of sand extraction. Existing mining practices and standards must be updated and customized for national circumstances. A system to accurately monitor production, consumption, and management should be set up. At the UN Environment Assembly, where the report was presented, the policymakers passed a Mineral Resource Governance Resolution that called for sustainable sand use.
In Greenland, this is an opportunity
While extraction is seen as a global problem, some in Greenland see vast economic potential in the activity. Greenland is responsible for about 8 percent of the total suspended sediment in the world’s oceans.
“Warming temperatures are causing increasing melt from the Greenland Ice Sheet, and with more melt, more silt, sand, and gravel are transported to the coast,” Mette Bendixen, a Research Fellow at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), writes in Sustainability Community.
Greenland currently operates as a self-governing nation under the Kingdom of Denmark. A block grant from the Danish government subsidizes half of its national budget. With social costs rising yearly due to an aging population, many believe sand mining will provide the revenues needed for Greenland to maintain its living standards.
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