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We Are Running Out of Sand
HughPickens.com writes John R. Gillis writes in the NYT that to those of us who visit beaches only in summer, beaches seem as permanent a part of our natural heritage as the Rocky Mountains but shore dwellers know that beaches are the most transitory of landscapes, and sand beaches the most vulnerable of all. Today, 75 to 90 percent of the world's natural sand beaches are disappearing, due partly to rising sea levels and increased storm action, but also to massive erosion caused by the human development of shores. The extent of this global crisis is obscured because so-called beach nourishment projects attempt to hold sand in place (PDF) and repair the damage by the time summer people return, creating the illusion of an eternal shore. But the market for mined sand in the U.S. has become a billion-dollar annual business, growing at 10 percent a year since 2008. Interior mining operations use huge machines working in open pits to dig down under the earth's surface to get sand left behind by ancient glaciers.
One might think that desert sand would be a ready substitute, but its grains are finer and smoother; they don't adhere to rougher sand grains, and tend to blow away. As a result, the desert state of Dubai brings sand for its beaches all the way from Australia. Huge sand mining operations are emerging worldwide, many of them illegal, happening out of sight and out of mind, as far as the developed world is concerned. "We need to stop taking sand for granted and think of it as an endangered natural resource," concludes Gillis. "Beach replenishment — the mining and trucking and dredging of sand to meet tourist expectations — must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, with environmental considerations taking top priority. Only this will ensure that the story of the earth will still have subsequent chapters told in grains of sand."
One might think that desert sand would be a ready substitute, but its grains are finer and smoother; they don't adhere to rougher sand grains, and tend to blow away. As a result, the desert state of Dubai brings sand for its beaches all the way from Australia. Huge sand mining operations are emerging worldwide, many of them illegal, happening out of sight and out of mind, as far as the developed world is concerned. "We need to stop taking sand for granted and think of it as an endangered natural resource," concludes Gillis. "Beach replenishment — the mining and trucking and dredging of sand to meet tourist expectations — must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, with environmental considerations taking top priority. Only this will ensure that the story of the earth will still have subsequent chapters told in grains of sand."
When God promised to make Abraham's descendents as numerous as the sand on the seashore, Abraham never thought to ask whether that meant he gets lots of descendents or that the sand on the seashore would be gone. As they say, when you assume you make an ass out of you and me.
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
The rational world where they are worth money through tourism. Did you even read *any* of the linked articles? They are fairly illuminating on the subject.
The ocean floors have millions of square miles of sand. The planet earth will not run out of sand.
As a result, the desert state of Dubai brings sand for its beaches all the way from Australia.
But then I RTFAed (I know, it's /., no one RTFAs) and
Perth's GMA Garnet will this month send a shipment of heavy mineral sand to Saudi Arabia for sandblasting... ...the special alluvial sand is suited for sandblasting because it is free of silica, which creates dust that can cause lung cancer and silicosis in workers
Nope, no beaches. But wait, there's more:
Another firm selling a sand-based product to the desert region is NT Prestressing, which has a type of concrete that can be laid quickly, speeding up building
Still no beaches though. Guess I won't be going to Saudi for my beach holiday, I'll have to stick with Aus - and we all know what they think of us Brits...
I'm sorry, are beaches not a resource? Are they not found in nature? Do they not provided a habitat that has it's own ecosystem? Do they not act as a buffer between the tides and habitable/irrigable land? The only person not rational here is you - because you are clearly too much of a fucktard to understand what a natural resource is, much less understand what value these resources might have aside from consumption and exploitation. Yes, beaches are a natural resource and yes, like other natural resources, they need protection from brainless consumer pieces of shit like you who take take take and eat eat eat like hungry little piggies with no thought of consequences or appreciation of nature at all.
Yeah, serves those idiots right for choosing leisure activities different than yours. Only moron would risk dying from skin cancer. Enlightened souls only go to the seas and lakes that don't have beaches and only risk themselves falling off cliffs, avalanches, drowning in rivers, and death from exposure.
>Well in Oregon all beaches are publicly owned, and as such there's no 'shoreline' development. Your move California.
Have you been to Seaside Oregon lately? It's pretty built up.
All the land between low tide and high tide is public land. But right behind that is open season.
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
What are you talking about? These people are raking in millions by scaring everybody. Fear and terror are major parts of the economy now. They have replaced manufacturing and farming.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Natural Resources are things found in nature that are used and can be used up. Clean water, breathable air, plant life, animal life, arable land, those are natural resources. They are consumed through use and can be overused to the point of disappearing. A beach on the other hand, that is not a natural resource. It's a terrain feature, just like a mountain. You can no more "use up" a beach than you can use up the view of Mt. McKinley.
Unfortunately (as viewed by beach residents), beach erosion _IS_ natural. That's how it works. The beaches need protection from people like you since you don't understand what qualities define a natural resource and through your ignorance think you can "repair" a beach.
Attempting to "preserve" beaches does no more than screw up the beaches for people who live down-current (no matter which direction that current flows.) You don't understand how the ocean or the earth work.
Beaches are supposed to erode. That is MOTHERFUCKING NATURE. Deal with it.
Study some oceanography.