Using sand in construction has both direct and indirect impacts on climate. Transporting aggregates that are to be used for constructing has a direct effect as this is typically done in large trucks while produce high levels of greenhouse gases. Furthermore, cement production yields high levels of carbon dioxide production (roughly 0.9 tonnes of CO2 for each tonne of cement). In 2010, 5% of greenhouse gas emissions were produced from cement production alone, totalling 1.65 billion tonnes.
Sand dredging in water bodies pollutes these with metals, chemicals and dredging waste, destabilising the marine environment and increasing the risk of cataclysms.
Sand extraction also alters the terrain of seas, shores, rivers and river banks, leading to flooding and affecting water currents, which in turn exacerbates storms and their effects. Coastal erosion erases the buffer between populations and the sea, rendering nearby inhabitants more vulnerable to storms and tsunamis resulting from climate change.
In this sense, climate change is also exacerbating other effects of the sand crisis; higher temperatures, more frequent natural disasters, and rising sea levels are worsening other aspects of the crisis, bringing it to even greater proportions. The sand crisis and climate change are thus linked in a symbiotic cycle.
Sources:
https://news.mongabay.com/2018/02/a-run-on-for-sand-leads-to-a-creeping-crisis-worldwide/
Sand dredging in water bodies pollutes these with metals, chemicals and dredging waste, destabilising the marine environment and increasing the risk of cataclysms.
Sand extraction also alters the terrain of seas, shores, rivers and river banks, leading to flooding and affecting water currents, which in turn exacerbates storms and their effects. Coastal erosion erases the buffer between populations and the sea, rendering nearby inhabitants more vulnerable to storms and tsunamis resulting from climate change.
In this sense, climate change is also exacerbating other effects of the sand crisis; higher temperatures, more frequent natural disasters, and rising sea levels are worsening other aspects of the crisis, bringing it to even greater proportions. The sand crisis and climate change are thus linked in a symbiotic cycle.
Sources:
https://news.mongabay.com/2018/02/a-run-on-for-sand-leads-to-a-creeping-crisis-worldwide/