
Why Sand Is Disappearing (2014) - DrScump
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/05/opinion/why-sand-is-disappearing.html
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molteanu
This is basically the same content as the one from ejolt:

[http://www.ejolt.org/2014/08/building-an-economy-on-
quicksan...](http://www.ejolt.org/2014/08/building-an-economy-on-quicksand/)

The original documentary, Sand - Die neue Umweltzeitbombe:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEWqs1wJuLc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEWqs1wJuLc)

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dagurp
There is a documentary about this called the Sand Wars. Here is the trailer

[https://youtu.be/CAPfwwb59uY](https://youtu.be/CAPfwwb59uY)

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such_a_casual
That is hilarious.

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RaSoJo
The aspect of Dessert Sand not being a suitable alternative to Beach Sand was
news to me.

I had a half baked notion that, given the long term downturn for Oil and the
increasing shortage of Sand, the Middle Eastern countries could diversify into
selling Dessert Sand apart from Black Gold. Guess it is not meant to be.

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pilsetnieks
Not suitable for beaches but it's probably still suitable for industrial use,
which is much, much larger than the beaches. It's just that it's not yet cost
effective to haul sand halfway around the world

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abakker
Unfortunately, desert sand is specifically not useful for one of the largest
industrial uses: Concrete. The weathering of sand in a wind-blown environment
reduces the sharp edges and makes it significantly less strong. The ideal in
concrete sand is as sharp and as new as possible. It is also ideal that it be
dust-free, since dust and other very fine particulates also negatively effect
strength.

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frik
Similar weird are the snow making machines in the Alps and other regions.
Thousands of units with water from many artificial lakes on top of the
mountains to create snow for tourists.

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jeza
At least when the snow melts it returns to the rivers and streams where it
came from.

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tim333
Sadly the lakes are often lower down the mountain which requires a lot of not
very environmentally friendly pumping to get it up. Here's one set up
[https://www.skiroundtop.com/how-snowmaking-
works](https://www.skiroundtop.com/how-snowmaking-works)

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petke
The sea near where I live throws up huge amounts of sand each winter storm. It
just keeps coming. The owners of the bay beach are give it away for free. They
just cant get rid of it quickly enough. I take a few dump trucks worth every
year.

So from my own subjective experience there seems to be a lot of sand in the
sea. Are we really running out? Or is this just alarmist journalism?

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Synaesthesia
I've heard in the news here in South Africa the prices of sand are going up
and we are running out of sand, so I think this has a real basis in reality.

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percept
"...a practice that disturbs the sea bottom, creating turbidity that kills
coral beds and damages spawning grounds, which hurts inshore fisheries."

