The world is slowly running out of sand.

As im sure some are well aware, sea levels are rising and beach erosion is becoming a serious problem. My local beach in Florida has had to spend millions to bring sand to repair the beach after the last hurricane. Funny thing is, our city had already approved to repair the beach for millions before the hurricane ever existed. But due to that last one that ripped up the east coast of Florida and the massive amount of sand needed to repair all the beaches, our city received some pretty nice discounts.

Where do we get all this sand? What are the effects of taking the sand from where it comes? What happens when we have no more sand? Seems people are already trying to figure it out.

We have plenty of sand here in Arizona.

That sand wont work. Its too fine and doesnt stick together good. Same issue with other ocean sands.

Sure it will. These aren't Mojave Desert sand. These are sand from rain erosion. They cake up well when dry and trap moisture inside.

I spent a few months in Miami back in the early 90's, post-Hurricane Andrew. I know what the sand textures there are like. The destruction at Homestead AFB was still there two years after the fact. The only place I can chill out was at the beach.

@jun_aka_pekto: If Arizona sand was really all that theyd use it for concrete though.

@iandizion713:

We should kick Mexico's ass and take their sand.

there's lots of sand on mars

"Murderous, black market sand Mafias". Man, is there anything we wont kill each other over?

We have them all here, coarse sand, fine sand, and everything in between. We certainly have our share of fine sand. What do you think gets blown into the sky with the yearly dust storms? ;)

We have sand quarries all over the state.

@jun_aka_pekto: There must be something wrong with it though or wed be using it as it would not only be easier to use, but much cheaper.

If you mean to say that beaches are getting removed due to rising tides then yes probably. If you really mean to say that there's going to be a shortage of sand then you likely don't understand how sand is made.

@Serraph105: The sand we use for beaches and concrete, etc, isnt an easily achieved renewable resource and were running out. Its why the price of beach sand is increasing. The video explains in great detail.

They're not in enough quantities to shore up whole regions like southern Florida. But, they're enough for local consumption such as concrete and masonry work within the state. Besides, we have our own homegrown eco-warriors who would frown at more digging.

Much of that region you're at has an elevation in single digits, usually 6 feet above sea level. My wife likes the climate of southern Florida because it's so similar to the Philippines. But, I told her about the danger from hurricanes and rising sea levels. So, she chose to set her roots here in Arizona instead.

Fighting the rising Atlantic Ocean isn't quite like fighting a cresting river. It's a losing battle. Water erodes. That's what it does.

@jun_aka_pekto: It has something to do with how the waves constantly beat on the sand. Its the reason we cant even use sand from the deep ocean floor.

The eroded sand shouldn't be too far into the water. I've seen dredging operations in both the Tokyo region and Manila Harbor. The recovered sand were built up and used as the foundation for structures back in the 70's. They're still around. In fact, I think the whole Narita International Airport at Tokyo was built from reclaimed land.

Florida would be more problematic because it's not only sitting flat and very low. It's also porous inside.

@jun_aka_pekto: No im talking about why we use that sand. Because the waves beat it into a perfect condition. In order to restore our cities beach, we stole sand off the coast of Florida in a different location. Some even steal whole little islands off the coast.

there are two reasons a beach could run out of sand:

-it is an artificial beach, so sand was never deposited there naturally in the first place, meaning the area probably is prone to erosion

-a natural beach stops receiving sand deposits because the region of erosion the sand comes from is protected from eroding

neither are really climate change related. sea level rise will certainly further erode artificial beaches that are already prone to erosion, but any natural beaches should just shift inland

NEET.

Beach sand, yes. Desert sand, no.

Why can't we use it from the Moon instead?

@davillain-: Too fine. Moon doesnt have the waves thats needed to create the balance desired.

Time to hoard some sand for when the prices skyrocket.

I was going to say, The Sand Mafia sounds kind of badass.

Anyway that was an interesting video, I had no idea we were running out. I mean, it's a resource and finite, but I just kind of assumed we had so much of it and we could recycle it, it was one those things where it was like "Well, it might as well be infinite/renewable".

Kind of scary when you think about it. A good first step would be to increase concrete re-purposing/recycling measures, make sure we use every scrap of debris from every concrete structure we tear down (if you can reuse concrete, that is...I'm assuming you can?)

*hmmm you can sort of re-use concrete...not really, though

Empty all the sandboxes at playground rationing every little bit counts now.

LOL

Crushed glass can do the job.

I blame Trump. He's being in the office for 3 weeks already and have done nothing to save sand.

I would not worry about the sand if planet x Nibiru hit the Earth in October as some claim. There will be no life left to need sand.

Brought to you by the same people who are responsible for us dying in the great cosmic wave of Dec. 26 2016!

Seriously, I can't remember how many times in the past 20 years Nibiru was suppose to swing by Earth. Nevermind that we'd totally know well in advance due to the planets gravitational effect on The Sun.

But thanks for the laugh. Great way to start a day!

@JimB: Thank goodness that will never happen.

Technically, we're not running out of sand. They just happened to be transported to the sea floor. ;)

We could shake everyone's vaginas out, too. Seems to be quite a bit of sand sequestered in those parts these days.

Sounds like a good idea. But, the last time I checked, it didn't feel like sand and I got elbowed (painfully) on the face. ;).... and a knee to my noggin.

Sometimes we all need a laugh. Glad I was able to help.

Move.

We're running out of fish, running out of animals, running out of food... now we're running out of sand?!..

@Dogswithguns: Welcome to Earth, were humans rob her blind.

Anakin Skywalker has some sand on him.

@chrisfire77: lol.

Please don't bump old threads.

-Byshop