How Sand Mining Is Quietly Creating A Major Global Environmental Crisis | Forbes

How Sand Mining Is Quietly Creating A Major Global Environmental Crisis | Forbes

Globally, it’s estimated that we mine as much as 50 billion metric tonnes of sand every year to build our roads, bridges, skyscrapers, homes and more. Rapid urbanization around the world has made sand a high value commodity, so much so that, for some, it’s even worth killing for. But not all sand is the same, and experts say some mining operations are damaging ecosystems, infrastructure and putting people in danger around the world.

0:00 Intro
1:06 How the world uses sand
3:46 Inside the growing demand for sand
6:08 How the world mines sand
7:33 A look at the environmental effects of sand mining
9:20 Explaining sand mafias and cartels
11:14 Exploring alternative building materials
13:04 The future of sand and concrete

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50 Comments

  1. Roy Hazel on April 7, 2023 at 4:42 pm

    poor audio quality

  2. Koh Yu Ze on April 7, 2023 at 4:42 pm

    Watched the whole video but I still don’t understand what is the environmental crisis from river-mining sand. From the segment at 7.33,
    – How would mining of dry riverbeds cause the river to die?
    – Why are deepening of rivers a bad thing? Many rivers suffer from sediment build up, causing floods. This literally increases the capacity of the river to hold more water.
    – Why is sediment not reaching the sea a bad thing?

  3. S K on April 7, 2023 at 4:43 pm

    I remember how someone said that if communists will run the Sahara desert they will get a shortage of sand. Now capitalists run the world and we run out of sand. What an irony.

  4. 218philip on April 7, 2023 at 4:49 pm

    Fear, fear,,,,,,,,,,typical of what we expect from (educated?) fools.
    Your hit job on Fox is pathetic.

  5. 290revolver290 on April 7, 2023 at 4:49 pm

    When the time is right and man becomes desperate for sand, he will find how the desert sand can be used. It’s not just time yet.

  6. Kenneth Pensyl on April 7, 2023 at 4:50 pm

    Humans equal monkeys running hog wild, and breeding like the dumb animals that they are. But never worry humans have democracy to proliferate organized crime.

  7. Andre Ungoogable on April 7, 2023 at 4:50 pm

    sand? Africa has the biggest storage

  8. Peter Andro on April 7, 2023 at 4:52 pm

    Some good information but confusing explanation and lacking the most important that ocean dredging is quickly destroying the planed eco system.

  9. Healthy Habits TV - Transform your body on April 7, 2023 at 4:53 pm

    I wish all of the climate change alarmists would have seen this video. This is a genuine crisis. It is not subjective it is something that you can see and touch, unlike other so-called crisis like climate change. Climate change has another name it’s called seasons

  10. Roger ThatOne on April 7, 2023 at 4:53 pm

    Why can’t we crush rock to make sand???

  11. Super Sonoma on April 7, 2023 at 4:54 pm

    Why not just use all the MF ( Manufactured Fines ) from aggregate operations in Canada and the US, ship it to countries that need it. It’s a by-product of rock crushing that doesn’t get used all the time and it’s piled up. Everything grows out of it. Sometimes the piles turn green.

  12. Johan on April 7, 2023 at 4:55 pm

    está guapo el man

  13. REVOLUTION on April 7, 2023 at 4:58 pm

    SterilVirus fixes the World.

  14. Chris Lecky on April 7, 2023 at 4:59 pm

    Build a planetary resource distribution sector specifically designed to ensure our resourced are not being abused by companies and establishments who display a lack of responsibility. In fact something similar should have been invented decades ago. Such actions would inhibit greedy grabbing ego fools from creating to much damage.

  15. Dog House on April 7, 2023 at 5:03 pm

    We’ve got a lot of prisoners world wide,…lets start making rocks into sand.

  16. Tony Linardi on April 7, 2023 at 5:03 pm

    Sand can be man made.

  17. Rocky s on April 7, 2023 at 5:05 pm

    The only way for mankind to "consume" less is for economies to contract. And if that happens people suffer. So the well being of people is dependent on exploiting the resources of the earth. It will be extremely difficult to do both at the same time. I have no faith in mankind managing earths resources responsibly and sustainably.

  18. Fergus Fromwalking on April 7, 2023 at 5:05 pm

    Many idiotic stereotypes saying disturbing things. You need to beef up this message!

  19. Duke Highness on April 7, 2023 at 5:08 pm

    very good docu… this is well put together, such an insightful vid .. keep it up!

  20. Christoph Sherburne on April 7, 2023 at 5:11 pm

    If Liberals didn’t have anything to Complain about…They’d Actually be Called “Progressives”…but they’re Not, & that’s All they Do is Complain & Over regulate.

  21. James Whitner on April 7, 2023 at 5:11 pm

    Our yard grows sand

  22. Aoudhubillahi on April 7, 2023 at 5:13 pm

    Why don’t you mine sand in the Sahara Desert?

  23. Ogre Under Bridge on April 7, 2023 at 5:15 pm

    Sand…? This planet is mainly variables of rocks and a liquid metal core. Video date is not right for an April foolery. What are you playing at ? I thought Forbes was to be a serious outlet…

  24. Pascal W. Paradis on April 7, 2023 at 5:16 pm

    EVERY DAM DAY ,, MOTHER EARTH GETS RAPED BY 8 billion people killing habitats — TO MANY PEOPLE ! ❤️❤️🌎❤️❤️

  25. Antss Skatesalot on April 7, 2023 at 5:18 pm

    I would love to see citations

  26. charles womack on April 7, 2023 at 5:19 pm

    Can’t sand be simply replaced by crushing large rocks? In theory at least.

  27. mesohorny on April 7, 2023 at 5:20 pm

    Shut up china

  28. Z V on April 7, 2023 at 5:20 pm

    Ask a Indian from tamilnadu sand usage is banned and those who can get it illegally it’s super expensive

  29. Forbes on April 7, 2023 at 5:21 pm

    Clarification: In the introduction of this piece we mention that sand is a key ingredient in cement, the material used to bind the aggregate together and form concrete. While silica sand is used to make cement in the form of silica fume, the amount of sand used in this process is small in comparison to the amount of silica sand used as the aggregate. We intended to say that “Sand is a key ingredient in concrete,” as sand makes up around 80% of the volume of concrete as an aggregate.

  30. Zaibish Khan on April 7, 2023 at 5:21 pm

    We are manufacturers of manufactured sand. It does not harm the environment and is a sustainable alternative to natural sand. Manufactured sand is made by crushing rock and then screening it to the desired size. It is an environmentally friendly and cost-effective alternative to natural sand and is ideal for use in construction, landscaping, and industrial applications.

  31. Less Dates More On My Plates on April 7, 2023 at 5:23 pm

    We humans are a cursed race… Our extinction is imminent

  32. manboob5000 on April 7, 2023 at 5:24 pm

    Not to mention things like solar panels and electronics are made from sand as well.

  33. kay ishmael on April 7, 2023 at 5:24 pm

    Okay so desert sand isn’t the right sand…what happens when you replace the mined sand from sea and river beds with desert sand and leave it there for a while

  34. Dluo/Ultra on April 7, 2023 at 5:25 pm

    lowkey reminds me of when u mine a lot of sand in minecraft and your rivers and beaches gets fucked. videogames be teaching climate change these days

  35. Janerhy Sybil Caralos on April 7, 2023 at 5:25 pm

    this is overrated. sand is sustainable, I will believe on this video if they can measure how depth the sand of the river sea or land.

  36. Christian Duval on April 7, 2023 at 5:27 pm

    Here in Canada, all concrete residut is reuse for the new construction, also road ……
    You forget to mention that in the reportage……reuse

  37. Fatal Ritte on April 7, 2023 at 5:29 pm

    All so we can build these huge hideous skyscrapers that only a handful of people can afford to live in… If god was real, I’m sure he’d be whooping our asses right now for the mess we’re making of the world. Its all downhill from here.

  38. web2yt on April 7, 2023 at 5:29 pm

    China now has a forced 3 child policy for all ccp members.

  39. JOHN DAVIS on April 7, 2023 at 5:30 pm

    There has to be a better alternative to using sand for construction, like Hempcrete or M Sand. There’s got to be a better way!

  40. John Harrison on April 7, 2023 at 5:30 pm

    we need mass transit.

  41. Unknown on April 7, 2023 at 5:30 pm

    I want a summary for the video
    Who can help me please 🙏🏻 ?

  42. 888WulfDog888 on April 7, 2023 at 5:34 pm

    This causes coastal erosion, not rising sea levels due to climate change, thats a lie.

    When you take the sand out, it gets replaced by stuff off the shore.

  43. Surender Singal on April 7, 2023 at 5:34 pm

    Thank you for educating us about the use of sand n violence behind it.

    Please continue this guidance so we can leave peaceful world for our children.

    J surender singsl

  44. Superyamky on April 7, 2023 at 5:34 pm

    There’s enough sand in the Sahara desert to get

  45. Skiadrum on April 7, 2023 at 5:36 pm

    so is it soo hard to make the sand ourselves? Brake racks till the rocks become sand.

  46. steve ducell on April 7, 2023 at 5:37 pm

    LOL…………when are we going to realize, that there are, simply, too many people on the planet?

  47. USA homosexuality Army recruitment express on April 7, 2023 at 5:37 pm

    Hahahahaa let’s sand the moon

  48. FARO D on April 7, 2023 at 5:39 pm

    Just replace the sea and river sand with the abandoned sand in the desert.

  49. Chintan Vekariya on April 7, 2023 at 5:40 pm

    Sand testing full video
    https://youtu.be/zxxnQkjdGWI

  50. Steven on April 7, 2023 at 5:41 pm

    good sharing, but what 1st world thinks and do don’t applied to the 3rd world. As all companies want cheap sands and won’t invest in any advanced or good infrastructure for getting the sands. You guys are enjoying your life but we 3rd world are suffered as we depends on you guys to survive. 3rd nation people and environment won’t get the same treatment from the 1st nation, we only cares how to survive on day to day basis and have no time thinking about environment impact after 30 yrs.

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