Sand has become the second largest natural resource, what are the consequences of sand mining?

According to the September 3** road,Today's population growth has made sand the second most important natural resource after waterBillions of tonnes of sand are being used around the world. In 2012 alone, the sand used globally was able to build concrete walls 27 meters high and 27 meters wide along the equator, according to a United Nations report. We don't need to go to the beach to play with sandcastles, our city is essentially a giant sandcastle made of sand.

Kenya's "New Standard Gauge Railway" (SGR), which spans 609 kilometres from Mombasa to Nairobi and requires millions of tonnes of sand to build, has been blindly mined along Kenya's coast and inland rivers in recent years.

Tiwi Beach in Kenya, where sand digging caused the beach to sink and begin to disappear, is a major nesting ground for sea turtles.

Sand mining vessels anchored coral reefs in the Tiwi Sea, suffocating fish and disrupting the lives of sea turtles on the seabed. As innocent as the sand may seem, the huge demand for it has led to serious damage to the ecosystem.

Anthony Muakimeu gazed at the steep rock walls left over from the over-dredging of the Kilomeikolya River in Maguani County, a local farmer, said"The Kilomeikolya River has become a dead river, and no one can get water from here. ”

During the rainy season, rainwater infiltrates the filled sand and stores it underground. During the dry season, nearly 1 million people survive by digging holes in sand pits to get water. However,The sand is hollowed out, leaving only the bedrock, and during the rainy season, the water rushes through the bedrock and runs away, making it impossible to store.

For some, sand is life, while for others, sand is just money。In an impoverished area with few employment opportunities, what desperate humans are doing is brutal. Marguani County Police Officer Geoffrey Kasyoki is well known in his community for trying to stop illegal sand mining in the area, but in February 2011 he was attacked in broad daylight by a group of young men who shot him with poisoned arrows.

In the Ntengue River, harvester Richard Munda piles up the dug sand and waits for trucks to come and pull it away, taking up to 100 tonnes of sand from the river every day.

Environmental protection is really urgent.

1. Excessive groundwater extraction leads to land subsidence, 2. Overgrazing and clearing fields leads to desertification, 3. Cutting down trees can also lead to desertification, 4. Overfishing can lead to a sharp decline in fish populations, 5. Wild animals are killed wildly. 6 Emissions of harmful gases or something, causing global warming, melting icebergs at the poles, rising sea levels, and exposing coastal cities and countries to the danger of submergence. Think of this for now.

This is due to over-exploitation, as the sand in the river has been drained and is now in short supply.

Because natural sand is very helpful to our lives, many people are willing to use such sand.

Because people mined and sold some sand on a large scale, the amount of sand decreased day by day, and gradually became a shortage.