Now that I have your attention: Science. Remember, I promised you one science-centered post each week?

Not all dirt (soil) is created equal.

One of my early career-type jobs involved inspecting soil for home septic systems. Since I lived in Michigan, soil is quite the science. The type of soil can vary from hard clay to fertile loam to pure sand, all on one plot of land.

Glaciers moving over Michigan resulted in 400 different types of soil.

These are some of the categories. There are so many more. Mostly based on where the subtype was found.

I became quite fascinated with soil. Wherever I traveled, I picked up a vial and labeled it. Georgia clay, black sand from Tortegaero, white sand from Florida, etc. I even smuggled some home, undeclared, from Poland. I planned to create a little display of my collection. I’m sure it’s still here somewhere, in a box, or maybe several boxes.

All that dirt! Each type has different properties and is ideal for different things. Surely we’ll never run out of soil. After all, our planet’s name is synonymous with soil: Earth.

Imagine my surprise when I heard that the world has a shortage of sand. I know sand is the perfect soil for drainage and filtering.

Sand is the second most consumed natural resource.

Really? Believe it or not, people literally kill for sand.

It is the primary raw material that modern cities are made from. The concrete used to construct shopping malls, offices, and apartment blocks, along with the asphalt we use to build roads connecting them, are largely just sand and gravel glued together. The glass in every window, windshield, and smart phone screen is made of melted-down sand. And even the silicon chips inside our phones and computers – along with virtually every other piece of electronic equipment in your home – are made of sand.

BBC 17Nov2019

Wait a minute, don’t we have an endless supply of sand in the deserts?

Just like the soil in Michigan, not all sand is created equal.

Wind created desert sand, so it’s too smooth and rounded to make stable concrete. We need sand that’s been created by water erosion. That kind of sand is angular and irregular. That’s the sand found in riverbeds and beaches. Mining for sand is stripping riverbeds and beaches bare.

Most of the sand is used for building roads and structures. To the tune of 50 billion tons a year.

There’s a black market for sand, involving criminal gangs and violence.

Because of the shortages, ocean floors are now dredged for sand. Besides building, we are literally re-terraforming the earth by moving sand from the ocean to undo the sea level changes done by climate change. The process clogs water lines, damages coral reefs, and tears up whole habitats.

There’s also a high demand for high-purity sand, which is used for solar panels, glass, and computer chips. As a result, miners are destroying farmland in places like Wisconsin.

The competition for sand has grown so intense that in many places criminal gangs have gotten into the trade, digging grains up by the megaton to sell on the black market. In parts of Latin America and Africa…children are forced to work as virtual slaves in sand mines. The gangs get away with all this the same way organized crime does everywhere, by paying off corrupt police and government officials to leave them alone. And when they deem it necessary, by assaulting and even killing those who get in their way.

BBC 17Nov2019

All is not lost. Scientists are hard at work.

Scientists are working on ways to replace sand. Some things that show promise: fly ash (the material left over from coal-fire power plants, shredded plastic, palm shells, and rice husks. I wonder if olive pits might be thrown into the mix. Years ago, my dad told me olive pits are nearly indestructible and make good roads. In some cases the amount of sand can be reduced. I’ve also seem road crews repairing and replacing roads with ground up old roads. And scientists are working on ways to make concrete with less sand. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could use all those plastic soda bottles to make our roads?

Okay, now that you know, let’s all take these last gasps of summer and enjoy the beach. Before it’s too late.