Beneath our paving stones, paved roads, walls, windows, computers, industry, and more, is a collection of hard material no larger than a speck. Sand is the fundamental building block of modern civilization, mined and extracted more than any other natural resource after water, and this fact should give us pause. Where does all this sand come from in the first place? What are the environmental consequences of sand mining? Most importantly, what happens when access to this most basic component of modern life begins to run out? Our modern civilization may pass, like sand through an hour glass.

Full transcript available

Subscribe now on: iTunes | Google Play | Stitcher | Soundcloud | Spotify | RSS | or search "Ashes Ashes" on your favorite podcast app.

Chapters

02:42 Why Sand?

03:31 What is Sand and Where is it?

08:40 Why do we care about sand?

16:09 Some History

20:59 Economics of Sand Scarcity

28:05 Destructive nature of Sand Extraction

39:07 Sand Mafias

48:06 Tragedy of the Unmanaged Commons

58:50 The Best of Times?

Recommended Reading

Sources

@misc{ABC_2018, title={Foreign Correspondent: Line In The Sand}, url={https://iview.abc.net.au/show/foreign-correspondent/series/0/video/NC1702H003S00}, journal={ABC iview}, author={ABC}, year={2018}, month={Dec} } @article{Anthony_Brunier_Besset_Goichot_Dussouillez_Nguyen_2015, title={Linking rapid erosion of the Mekong River delta to human activities}, volume={5}, ISSN={2045-2322}, DOI={10.1038/srep14745}, journal={Scientific Reports}, author={Anthony, Edward J. and Brunier, Guillaume and Besset, Manon and Goichot, Marc and Dussouillez, Philippe and Nguyen, Van Lap}, year={2015}, month={Oct}, pages={14745} } @misc{Arnold_Fuller_2007, title={Neighbor Leaves Singapore Short of Sand}, url={https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/16/world/asia/16singapore.html}, journal={The New York Times}, author={Arnold, Wayne and Fuller, Thomas}, year={2007}, month={Mar} } @misc{Beiser_2018a, title={The Ultra-Pure, Super-Secret Sand That Makes Your Phone Possible}, url={https://www.wired.com/story/book-excerpt-science-of-ultra-pure-silicon/}, journal={Wired}, author={Beiser, Vince}, year={2018}, month={Aug} } @book{Beiser_2018b, place={New York}, edition={First Edition edition}, title={The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization}, ISBN={978-0-399-57642-3}, publisher={Riverhead Books}, author={Beiser, Vince}, year={2018}, month={Aug} } @misc{Bob Rehak_2018, title={How Floodplain Mining Can Lead to River Capture}, url={http://reduceflooding.com/2018/07/22/how-floodplain-mining-can-lead-to-river-capture/}, journal={Reduce Flooding}, author={Bob Rehak}, year={2018}, month={Jul} } @misc{Bruce Edwards_2015, title={The Insatiable Demand for Sand - IMF}, url={https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2015/12/edwards.htm}, journal={IMF}, author={Bruce Edwards}, year={2015}, month={Dec} } @misc{David Sloan Wilson_2016, title={The Tragedy of the Commons: How Elinor Ostrom Solved One of Life’s Greatest Dilemmas}, url={http://evonomics.com/tragedy-of-the-commons-elinor-ostrom/}, journal={Evonomics}, author={David Sloan Wilson}, year={2016}, month={Oct} } @misc{Frontline_2015, title={Murders most foul}, url={https://frontline.thehindu.com/cover-story/murders-most-foul/article7391526.ece}, journal={Frontline}, author={Frontline}, year={2015}, month={Jul} } @misc{Goldberg_2018, title={Demand for Frac Sand and Concrete Drives Scarcity}, url={https://www.investopedia.com/investing/demand-frac-sand-and-concrete-drives-scarcity/}, journal={Investopedia}, author={Goldberg, Shelley}, year={2018}, month={Jul} } @misc{Govindarajan_2017, title={For a month now, a Chennai reporter who exposed illegal sand-mining has been receiving threats}, url={https://scroll.in/article/832422/for-a-month-now-a-chennai-reporter-who-exposed-illegal-sand-mining-has-been-receiving-threats}, journal={Scroll.in}, author={Govindarajan, Vinita}, year={2017}, month={Mar} } @misc{Hawley_2017, title={The “sand mafia” fuelling India’s $120 billion building boom}, url={https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-28/the-great-sand-heist-fuelling-india-120-billion-building/8390984}, journal={ABC News}, author={Hawley, Samantha}, year={2017}, month={Mar} } @article{Hussain_2009, title={Basking site and water depth selection by gharial Gavialis gangeticus Gmelin 1789 (Crocodylia, Reptilia) in National Chambal Sanctuary, India and its implication for river conservation}, volume={19}, ISSN={1099-0755}, DOI={10.1002/aqc.960}, number={2}, journal={Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems}, author={Hussain, Syed Ainul}, year={2009}, month={Jan}, pages={127–133} } @misc{Jack_2017, title={Cambodia bans sand exports permanently}, url={https://www.bbc.com/news/business-40590695}, journal={BBC}, author={Jack, Simon}, year={2017}, month={Jul} } @misc{Kimon de Greef_2017, title={Quick Sand, Dirty Money}, url={https://www.hakaimagazine.com/features/quick-sand-dirty-money/}, journal={Hakai Magazine}, author={Kimon de Greef}, year={2017}, month={Dec} } @misc{Kiran Pereira_Ranjith Ratnayake_2013, title={Curbing Illegal Sand Mining in Sri Lanka}, url={https://www.waterintegritynetwork.net/2013/10/08/curbing-illegal-sand-mining-in-sri-lanka/}, journal={WIN - Water Integrity Network}, author={Kiran Pereira and Ranjith Ratnayake}, year={2013}, month={Oct} } @article{Lai_Chau_Lorne_2016, title={The rise and fall of the sand monopoly in colonial Hong Kong}, volume={128}, ISSN={0921-8009}, DOI={10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.04.021}, journal={Ecological Economics}, author={Lai, Lawrence W. C. and Chau, K. W. and Lorne, Frank T.}, year={2016}, month={Aug}, pages={106–116} } @misc{Ludacer_2018, title={The world is running out of sand — and there’s a black market for it now}, url={https://www.businessinsider.com/world-running-out-sand-resources-concrete-2018-6}, journal={Business Insider}, author={Ludacer, Rob}, year={2018}, month={Jun} } @article{Mazumder_Boro_Barbhuiya_Singha_2014, title={A study of the winter congregation sites of the Gangetic River Dolphin in southern Assam, India, with reference to conservation}, volume={2}, ISSN={2351-9894}, DOI={10.1016/j.gecco.2014.09.004}, journal={Global Ecology and Conservation}, author={Mazumder, Muhammed Khairujjaman and Boro, Freeman and Barbhuiya, Badruzzaman and Singha, Utsab}, year={2014}, month={Dec}, pages={359–366} } @article{Miatto_Schandl_Fishman_Tanikawa_2016, title={Global Patterns and Trends for Non-Metallic Minerals used for Construction}, volume={21}, ISSN={1530-9290}, DOI={10.1111/jiec.12471}, number={4}, journal={Journal of Industrial Ecology}, author={Miatto, Alessio and Schandl, Heinz and Fishman, Tomer and Tanikawa, Hiroki}, year={2016}, month={Aug}, pages={924–937} } @article{Mingist_Gebremedhin_2016, title={Could sand mining be a major threat for the declining endemic Labeobarbus species of Lake Tana, Ethiopia?}, volume={37}, ISSN={1467-9493}, DOI={10.1111/sjtg.12150}, number={2}, journal={Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography}, author={Mingist, Minwyelet and Gebremedhin, Shewit}, year={2016}, month={May}, pages={195–208} } @book{Ostrom_1990, title={Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action}, ISBN={978-0-521-40599-7}, url={https://wtf.tw/ref/ostrom_1990.pdf}, note={Google-Books-ID: 4xg6oUobMz4C}, publisher={Cambridge University Press}, author={Ostrom, Elinor}, year={1990}, month={Nov} } @misc{Owen_2017, title={The World Is Running Out of Sand}, url={https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/05/29/the-world-is-running-out-of-sand}, journal={The New Yorker}, author={Owen, David}, year={2017}, month={May} } @misc{Poor_2018, title={A microscopic look at why the world is running out of sand}, url={https://www.theverge.com/science/2018/9/4/17797394/sand-microscope-grains-scarcity-construction-industry-concrete}, journal={The Verge}, author={Poor, William}, year={2018}, month={Sep} } @misc{Rayasam_2016, title={Even desert city Dubai imports its sand. This is why}, url={http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20160502-even-desert-city-dubai-imports-its-sand-this-is-why}, journal={BBC}, author={Rayasam, Renuka}, year={2016}, month={May} } @article{Reddy_2014, title={On the little-known hyporheic biodiversity of India, with annotated checklist of copepods and bathynellaceans (Crustacea) and a note on the disastrous implications of indiscriminate sand mining}, volume={6}, ISSN={0974-7907}, DOI={10.11609/JoTT.o3734.5315-26}, number={1}, journal={Journal of Threatened Taxa}, author={Reddy, Y. R.}, year={2014}, month={Jan}, pages={5315–5326} } @article{Soleimani-Ahmadi_Vatandoost_Hanafi-Bojd_Zare_Safari_Mojahedi_Poorahmad-Garbandi_2013, title={Environmental characteristics of anopheline mosquito larval habitats in a malaria endemic area in Iran}, volume={6}, ISSN={1995-7645}, DOI={10.1016/S1995-7645(13)60087-5}, number={7}, journal={Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine}, author={Soleimani-Ahmadi, Moussa and Vatandoost, Hassan and Hanafi-Bojd, Ahmad-Ali and Zare, Mehdi and Safari, Reza and Mojahedi, Abdolrasul and Poorahmad-Garbandi, Fatemeh}, year={2013}, month={Jul}, pages={510–515} } @misc{Sunny Freeman_2017, title={The world is running out of sand — and you’d be surprised how significant that is}, url={https://business.financialpost.com/commodities/alarm-bells-ringing-globally-as-world-begins-running-out-of-sand}, journal={Financial Post}, author={Sunny Freeman}, year={2017}, month={Sep} } @misc{The Economist_2015, title={Such quantities of sand}, url={https://www.economist.com/asia/2015/02/26/such-quantities-of-sand?xid=PS_smithsonian}, journal={The Economist}, author={The Economist}, year={2015}, month={Feb} } @article{Torres_Brandt_Lear_Liu_2017, title={A looming tragedy of the sand commons}, volume={357}, ISSN={0036-8075, 1095-9203}, DOI={10.1126/science.aao0503}, number={6355}, journal={Science}, author={Torres, Aurora and Brandt, Jodi and Lear, Kristen and Liu, Jianguo}, year={2017}, month={Sep}, pages={970–971} } @misc{Tuoi Tre News_2017, title={​Vietnam forecast to run out of construction sand by 2020}, url={http://b1.tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20170803/vietnam-forecast-to-run-out-of-construction-sand-by-2020/40865.html}, journal={Tuoi Tre News}, author={Tuoi Tre News}, year={2017}, month={Aug} } @misc{UNEP_2014, title={Sand, rarer than one thinks}, url={https://na.unep.net/geas/archive/pdfs/GEAS_Mar2014_Sand_Mining.pdf}, journal={UNEP}, author={UNEP}, year={2014}, month={Mar} } @misc{U.S. Geological Survey_U.S. Department of the Interior_2017, title={Mineral Commodity Summaries 2017}, url={https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/mcs/2017/mcs2017.pdf?xid=PS_smithsonian}, author={U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Department of the Interior}, year={2017}, month={Jan} } @misc{Vince Beiser_2018, title={Dramatic Photos Show How Sand Mining Threatens a Way of Life in Southeast Asia}, url={https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/03/vietnam-mekong-illegal-sand-mining/}, journal={National Geographic News}, author={Vince Beiser}, year={2018}, month={Mar} } @misc{Walljasper_2009, title={The Victory of the Commons}, url={https://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/the-victory-of-the-commons}, journal={yes!}, author={Walljasper, Jay}, year={2009}, month={Oct} }

Published 10-01-2019 3:01