World Faces Global Sand Shortage NPRThe world is running out of sand. So much so that some countries have banned exports of sand, and there is a thriving black market for it. David Greene talks to freelance journalist Vince Beiser. DAVID GREENE, HOST Here in California, officials recently announced the upcoming closure of a mine not a coal mine, not a gold or silver mine. It is a sand mine on the beach. Its the last beach sand mine in America. Now, I, for one, did not even know that sand was mined. The Sand Snakes are the eight bastard daughters of Prince Oberyn Martell. Although nobleborn. Play Betsys Crafts Sand Painting online on GirlsgoGames. Every day new Girls Games online Betsys Crafts Sand Painting is Safe, Cool to play and Free Owen Piettes Falling Sand Game. Download wxSand Now Features Explosions 2 kinds Energy transfer, sandbox temperature LoadSave. World of Sand. Created by DOFIBlog. About Me Add to Favorites Developers Games for your site Search Mobile Games. I also didnt realize the context for this decision. There was fear the mine was causing beach erosion, but the closure also comes with the world facing a global shortage of sand. And this could affect your life in ways that have nothing to do with sunscreen or flip flops. Journalist Vince Beiser has traveled the globe reporting on this, and he came into our studios here at NPR West. Vince, welcome. VINCE BEISER Thanks, David, good to be here. A Course In Robust Control Theory A Convex Approach Pdf. GREENE Well, its great to have you. So I was on the beach in California. I know you live out here, too, and probably go often. There seemed, like, an ocean of sand, I mean, for miles. So is that the kind of sand were talking about here BEISER So we are talking about that kind of sand, yeah. And I know it sounds crazy because theres obviously a lot of sand in the world, and it seems like were never going to run out. GREENE Right. BEISER Its also the natural resource that we use the most of after air and water. Whatever building youre sitting in right now, its probably built mostly with concrete. And concrete is basically just sand and gravel glued together with cement. And also, all the roads that connect all those buildings, those are also made out of concrete. All the windows in every single one of those buildings are made of glass, and glass is nothing but melted down sand. GREENE God, thats incredible. Sand is all around us. BEISER Absolutely. Sand World Game' title='Sand World Game' />And its even in your pocket right now because the silicon chips that power your computer and your cellphone, that silicon is also made from sand. GREENE Where does the sand thats used in construction all come from How is sand createdSabi Sand Game Lodge specials. Specials in Sabi Sand from the experts. Best value holidays from AfricaStay. Cent Blood on the Sand is a thirdperson shooter video game developed by Swordfish Studios and published by THQ for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. South African private game reserve with four luxury safari lodges located within the Sabi Sand Game Reserve and Kruger National Park. Falling Sand Game. If you dont know what to do, read the Answers. The game involves four different particles falling from the top of the. BEISER Most of the sand that we use in the world is quartz sand, and most of it comes from mountains. And over thousands of years, they get worn down by rain, by wind, by erosion. Rivers carry them down the mountainsides, and finally, they bring them to the beach. Thats how most beaches get created is that the. GREENE So were seeing only a little bit of the sand on beaches that exists in the world. Sugar, Sugar Spilly sugar bad. You putting it in the cup good Draw lines to guide the sugars to their happy sugar cup place Free Online Puzzle Games from. I mean. BEISER Exactly. GREENE. Like, a tiny fraction. BEISER Exactly. GREENE Well, so why are we running out BEISER We are building cities at a pace and on a scale that has never remotely before happened, mainly all over the developing world rightIndia, Indonesia, Vietnam. China has used more cement in the last few years than the United States used in the entire 2. GREENE Are we at risk of running out at some point Or is it more a matter of moving sand to the right places to feed this demand BEISER Theres so much demand for sand right now that we are stripping riverbeds bare. Were stripping beaches bare. Were tearing up forests and farmland to get at the sand. And things have gotten so bad in a lot of places that governments have really tried to crack down on it. As a result of that, organized crime has taken over the sand business. And they do what mafias do everywhere. They bribe police. They bribe cops. And if you really get in their way, they will kill you. GREENE Where is that mostly happeningBEISER So India is the worst, but in many other countries as well in Kenya, in Indonesia. Theres been violence in China, in Vietnam, in a lot of places. GREENE And maybe not people being killed, but here in California, the debate is very real. I mean, the government just shut down the last sand mine. BEISER Exactly. GREENE. Over environmental concerns. BEISER Thats right. So here in California, we used to have sand mines all up and down the coast. And these were, like, enormous dredges that would literally just pull the sand, rake the sand right off the beach. But they realized, well, this is terrible. This is destroying our beaches. So they shut all of them down except one. And just last week, after years of court battles and protests, the county government finally stepped in and shut it down. GREENE Well, could something replace sandBEISER Yeah. You can crush up rocks to make more sand. Two problems with that one is the sand you get is not as good as naturally created sand. Also, its a lot more expensive. We can recycle some of it, but the really tricky part of that is concrete isnt like glass or like paper. Those are products that are designed to be used once, right You get your newspaper. You read it. You toss it in the recycling bin. You build a concrete building, you dont use it for one day and then throw it out. That building is supposed to stay there permanently. That sand is taken out of circulation indefinitely. GREENE Vince, thanks a lot for coming in. BEISER Its a pleasure. GREENE That was journalist Vince Beiser. His reporting project, The Deadly Global War For Sand, was funded by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Copyright 2. 01. NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb. Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record.