How our glut for sand fuels a violent global black market


The demand for that material is so intense that around the world, riverbeds and beaches are being stripped bare, and farmlands and forests torn up to get at the precious grains. And in a growing number of countries, criminal gangs have moved in to the trade, spawning an often lethal black market in sand.



Writing for BBC Future, Vince Beiser explains how sand — a very specific kind of sand — has become the second most consumed natural resource on the planet, fueling global environmental destruction, criminal enterprises, and even "sand wars."

"The demand for that material is so intense that around the world, riverbeds and beaches are being stripped bare, and farmlands and forests torn up to get at the precious grains," Beiser writes. "And in a growing number of countries, criminal gangs have moved in to the trade, spawning an often lethal black market in sand."

Alexander Walter via Archinect - News http://bit.ly/37qJBwi

Yorumlar

Yorum Gönder

Bu blogdaki popüler yayınlar

2017 CMYK Color Swatch Calendar

Resim
Après les éditions 2014, 2015 et 2016 , le graphiste et designer Peter von Freyhold revient avec l’édition 2017 de son CMYK Color Swatch Calendar . Chaque jour de l’année dispose d’un petit onglet de couleur à détacher. Il est donc possible de créer des petits nuanciers de couleur, à l’aide des attaches disponibles. Un calendrier idéal pour les amoureux de design. L’objet est disponible à la vente ici . , Léa, via Fubiz Media http://ift.tt/2e1Vnqo
Devamı

Geo-Matrix Towers Span Across Oceans To Connect The Planet

Resim
Editors’ Choice 2020 Skyscraper Competition Ruwan Fernando Australia Ever since the Apollo mission showed us the first images of our ‘pale blue dot’ from space, the idea of the world as a ‘whole’ has captured the people’s imagination. Going beyond borders, oceans, and thinking of the continents as a continuous entity comes from this vision. Fifty years later, we face the existential threat of ecological disaster, and maybe revisiting the whole earth project seems like a way of recapturing that drive. This proposal looks at a network of towers that span across the oceans connecting the planet in a matrix that provides energy cleans the oceans and gives new chances for life to thrive. Fusion, Solar, and Hydro-power are used in this matrix with all of these being in high abundance in the ocean. The towers are also self-sufficient and mine minerals from the water as well as farm to support their communities. Research and manufacturing also feature heavily. The connections of the g
Devamı

Powerful Black Minimalist Tattoos

Resim
Avis aux amateurs de tatouages sobres et discrets : le travail de Jonathan Valena , aka Jonboy, tatoueur installé dans le Lower East Side à Manhattan, devrait attirer votre attention. Ses clients ont en effet recours à ses services pour inscrire sur leur peau des phrases motivationnelles ou poétiques avec une écriture épurée et fine qui semble manuscrite, ou des dessins minimalistes. Un travail agréable et doux à découvrir ci-dessous. , Hoel, via Fubiz Media http://ift.tt/2j9YRI4
Devamı