Vanishing Sands
Losing Beaches to Mining
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- $25.99
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- $25.99
Publisher Description
In a time of accelerating sea level rise and increasingly intensifying storms, the world’s sandy beaches and dunes have never been more crucial to protecting coastal environments. Yet, in order to meet the demands of large-scale construction projects, sand mining is stripping beaches and dunes, destroying environments, and exploiting labor in the process. The authors of Vanishing Sands track the devastating impact of legal and illegal sand mining over the past twenty years, ranging from Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean to South America and the eastern United States. They show how sand mining has reached crisis levels: beach, dune, and river ecosystems are in danger of being lost forever, while organized crime groups use deadly force to protect their illegal mining operations. Calling for immediate and widespread resistance to sand mining, the authors demonstrate that its cessation is paramount for saving not only beaches, dunes, and associated environments but also lives and tourism economies everywhere.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Pilkey (Sea Level Rise), professor of Earth and Ocean studies at Duke University, joins with fellow researchers Norma J. Longo, William J. Neal, Nelson G. Rangel-Buitrago, Keith C. Pilkey, and Hannah L. Hays for this deeply informative look at the environmental effects of the overmanagement of beaches and the misuse of sand. "Beaches and coastal dunes are among the most dynamic of nature's environments," they write, and humans have sought to control them since as early as the Neolithic period. As global seaside construction has boomed, demand for high-quality sand for concrete has increased with it. Though illegal in most places, the authors show mining sand from beaches as an increasingly big business with dire effects, impacting local economies, water quality, and natural storm protection. The authors trace the history of sand in the global economy, examine the flow of sand in nature, and explore global examples of abuse, including "sand bandits" in Singapore, illegal sand mining in Puerto Rico, and even the murder of an environmental activist in Mexico working to curtail sand extraction. The authors combine their enthralling case studies with actionable suggestions: governments should buy coastal lands "to create management units," for instance. Beachgoers, policymakers, and builders alike will find something to consider in this shocking study.
