Currents
December 2017
Anthropogenic
The U.S. East Coast is suffer-
ing from a plethora of problems
and issues. But beach erosion is
an issue shared by the entire
coast. The genesis of the issues
is sometime debated but mostly
they are over looked and forgot-
ten but generally there is agree-
ment that both Mankind and
Mother Nature share the blame.
Mankind develops in areas
Mother Nature uses to clean and
protect other areas, but develop-
ment is forged by those who
believe their destiny is to bend
Nature to their will and live wher-
ever it suits. Florida in particular,
suffers from the issue and now is
suffering from another issue:
Sand Shortage.
Most Americans have read or
heard that country’s beaches are
consistently in need of refurbish-
ing and never think once about
where the sand originates.
That’s because the primary
source has been dragging from
the oceans.
Silica
Modern society is literally built
on sand. Most of our buildings
and bridges are made with con-
crete, which consists mostly of
sand and gravel. The same is
true for the asphalt that covers
our roads and parking lots.
Glass, from window panes to
eyeglass lenses to smartphone
screens, is made by melting
sand, and the semiconductors in
our electronics come from heat-
ing silica sand. Another type of
sand is increasingly used in
hydraulic fracturing, where it is
used to prop open cracks deep in
the Earth for fossil fuel extraction.
After air and water, sand is
humankind’s most consumed
natural resource.
Currently, the world is facing
unprecedented development as
well as ever strengthening storms
occurring with more frequency.
Sand may be a metaphor for
abundance, but the world is run-
ning low on sand! In fact, in Feb-
ruary, members of Florida’s con-
gressional delegation from both
parties introduced a bill to repeal
a 1986 Environmental law pro-
hibiting the Sunshine State, or
any state, from importing sand
from the Bahamas and other for-
eign sources.
Sand may be a metaphor for
abundance, but it is an equally
powerful symbol of imperma-
nence. As we saw after the latest
hurricanes and flooding, it just
rejoins the oceans.
S TOP Y OUR
W INDOW L EAK P ROBLEMS
continued on page 4 >
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