Posted on 09/14/2017 2:53:17 PM PDT by Jagermonster
SURFACING MODELS OF THOUGHT
Out of the complexity of the global sand trade has emerged something of a butterfly effect, in which an economic decision in one place can wreak social and environmental havoc on the other side of the world.
If youre looking for a way to express something thats staggeringly hard to count, you wont find a more reliable metaphor than grains of sand.
There is indeed quite a bit of it about 7.5 quintillion grains on Earths beaches and deserts, according to one estimate. But if you think that this would be sufficient to supply an ever-expanding global economy with all the concrete, asphalt, glass, and semiconductors it could possibly desire, think again.
Our consumption of sand is outpacing our understanding of the economics and environmental impacts of extracting, transporting, and consuming it, finds research published last Thursday in the journal Science. Out of the complexity of the global sand trade has emerged something of a butterfly effect, in which an economic decision in one place can wreak social and environmental havoc on the other side of the world. Using a holistic, interdisciplinary approach called telecoupling, the researchers analysis of the global sand trade opens a window into the global interconnection of human and natural systems.
The demand is skyrocketing, and the supply is increasingly limited. And also the consequences, both the environmental and the socioeconomic impact, are enormous, says Jianguo Jack Liu, director of Michigan State Universitys Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability and a co-author of the paper.
Sand mafias and vanishing islands
Modern society is literally built on sand. Most of our buildings and bridges are made with concrete...
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
We should turn this thread into an unofficial Leelanau County tourism board. Get ice cream at the Cherry Republic! Climb the Dunes! Kayak the Crystal River! Eat foodie things in Traverse City!
THAT !
In a more rational time these would be stories about how the expanding economy is filling everyone's pocket. Instead, the gloomers and boomers have control of the steering wheel, and all we hear about are the purported bad side-effects.
And then there's this: Frac Sand Resources in Central Texas Exceed 5 Billion Metric Tons.
Running out of sand? What a joke.
The lower the bulk value of the commodity, the greater the percentage of its price at the consuming end is due to transportation costs. Basic economics. The other end of the spectrum are gold and diamonds.
An acquaintance spent five years working in Saudi Arabia. He was amazed to see the Saudi’s importing sand.
When he questioned it he was shown why.
Desert sand that is continually blown by the winds looks like tiny glass beads under a microscope. So smooth that concrete will not properly bind with it.
Beach sand has the nooks and projections that make it the perfect binder for concrete.
The Saudi’s do export some sand for glass making but not nearly as much as they import.
Nephew’s part of a project working to create Silicon Valley East here in Atlantic county - I told him they had a good start because of all the sand on the beaches in Jersey - have to link him into this article......
well, there goes AI down the pipedream tunnel. All because of no sand. The waves of emotion must be crushing.
Oregon
Another reason why Hillary lost the election.
I think my IQ fell some just by reading it.
Living in the low desert (Sonoran Desert) of California which extends into the entire southern half of Arizona, I call BS on this article.
Silicon is the 2nd must abundant element on earth.
The article is full of crap.
So, the Saudi’s are the ones buying all the sand.
Do you design chips? Analog?
DuPont?
What they mean to say is there is a shortage of government approved sand removal sites.
No. I actually make chips. My area of specialty is microphotolithography.
This is one of my old drinking buddies though.
Started with National Semiconductor in 1967, retired from Texas Instruments in 1995.
Yes, they are buying their share.
All that sand blowing every which way is pretty much useless to them.
Read Widlar’s bio. Sounds like a likable eccentric genius.
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