2017-02-13

[public] 1.47M views, 44.6K likes, 558 dislikes audio only

Tom Scott

I never thought of sand as a non-renewable resource, but there's only a limited supply: and to make things worse, it keeps getting washed into the sea. At Cape May, New Jersey, the US Army Corps of Engineers have just finished rebuilding a beach: here's why.

Thanks to the folks from the Corps for showing me around!

There's more about their project here: http://www.nap.usace.army.mil/Missions/Factsheets/Fact-Sheet-Article-View/Article/490778/new-jersey-shore-protection-cape-may-inlet-to-lower-township/

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EDITOR: Michelle Martin, @mrsmmartin

And thanks to Elmo Keep for linking to the article that inspired this video!

REFERENCES:

Leatherman, S., Zhang, K. and Douglas, B. (2000).

Sea level rise shown to drive coastal erosion.

Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union, 81(6), p.55.

Peduzzi, P. (2014). Sand, rarer than one thinks.

Environmental Development / United Nations

Environmental Program, 11, pp.208-218. : http://www.unep.org/pdf/UNEP_GEAS_March_2014.pdf

Zhang, G., Song, J., Yang, J. and Liu, X. (2006).

Performance of mortar and concrete made with a fine aggregate

of desert sand. Building and Environment, 41(11), pp.1478-1481.

Beiser, V. (2015). The Deadly Global War for Sand. Wired. https://www.wired.com/2015/03/illegal-sand-mining/

Beiser, V. (2016). The World’s Disappearing Sand. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/23/opinion/the-worlds-disappearing-sand.html