Why sand scarcity is about more than ‘running out’ of sand

The world is running surprisingly low on sand. Humans have found a staggering variety of uses for sand, from glass and concrete to electronics and artificial islands. And natural sand production is a slow process— mountains weather down to smaller and smaller rocks over eons — so it’s not shocking that sand is often harvested at a faster pace than it’s replenished.But sand scarcity is more complicated than that. Sand is cheap to mine, but its weight and bulk make it extr