A looming tragedy of the sand commons

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 357; no. 6355; pp. 970 - 971
• Main Authors: Torres, Aurora, Brandt, Jodi, Lear, Kristen, Liu, Jianguo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Association for the Advancement of Science 08.09.2017; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Biodegradation; Environmental impact; Fossil fuels; Gravel; Natural resources; Overexploitation; PERSPECTIVES; Sand; Sand & gravel
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.aao0503

Increasing sand extraction, trade, and consumption pose global sustainability challenges Between 1900 and 2010, the global volume of natural resources used in buildings and transport infrastructure increased 23-fold ( 1 ). Sand and gravel are the largest portion of these primary material inputs (79% or 28.6 gigatons per year in 2010) and are the most extracted group of materials worldwide, exceeding fossil fuels and biomass ( 2 ). In most regions, sand is a common-pool resource, i.e., a resource that is open to all because access can be limited only at high cost. Because of the difficulty in regulating their consumption, common-pool resources are prone to tragedies of the commons as people may selfishly extract them without considering long-term consequences, eventually leading to overexploitation or degradation. Even when sand mining is regulated, it is often subject to rampant illegal extraction and trade ( 3 ). As a result, sand scarcity ( 4 ) is an emerging issue with major sociopolitical, economic, and environmental implications.