The World Is Running Out of Sand

After water, sand – known in the industries as “aggregate”– is the “second-most heavily exploited natural resource” in the world. Although sand is ubiquitous in nature, it comes in many different forms. Each type of sand is used for specific purposes, meaning countries with a lot of sand sometimes still import the resource if their particular variety doesn’t meet their needs. Dubai, for example, is replete with desert sand but the smooth surface of its grains make it ill-suited for construction or water filtration. Consequently, Dubai had to import the Australian sand used for the Burj Khalifa – the world...