又一樣東西變成稀缺資源：全球的沙子不夠用了

While pursuing an ecology doctorate at the Spanish National Museum of Natural History, Aurora Torres was thinking about infrastructure and sprawl.

在西班牙國家自然歷史博物館攻讀生態學博士學位期間，Aurora Torres考慮的是基礎設施和城市的雜亂無章。

But what ultimately focused her attention was hearing about a beach in Jamaica that had been stolen.

但最終吸引她注意力的是聽說牙買加的沙灘被盜。

The story of the plundered beach, along with criminal comModity cabals in India and Italy, Morocco and Mauritius, have become symbols of an issue facing the industry: the precarious state of the global sand supply.

被盜沙灘的事以及印度和意大利、摩洛哥和毛里求斯的違法商品陰謀集團都代表了這個行業所面臨的問題：全球沙子供應現狀不穩定。

Sand and aggregate are prime materials for asphalt, glass and concrete.

沙子和集料是瀝青、玻璃和混凝土的主要材料。

If sand were to run short—or if its supply became unpredictable—it would severely impact the industry.

如果沙子短缺，或者沙子供應變得不可預測，將會對該行業產生嚴重影響。

Sand scarcity may be complex, but there are enough warning signals to warrant attention.

沙子短缺的問題可能很複雜，但足以引起我們的注意。

In February, the United Nations Environmental Program published a report on sand and sustainability. “Shifting consumption patterns, growing populations, increasing urbanization and infrastructure development have increased demand threefold over the last two decades. We now need 50 billion tonnes per year, an average of 18 kg per person per day,” acting UNEP executive director Joyce Msuya wrote. “We have been exceeding easily available sand resources at a growing rate for decades.”

聯合國環境規劃署於二月份發表了一篇關於沙子和可持續發展的報告。聯合國環境規劃署代理執行主任喬伊斯·姆蘇亞寫道：“過去二十年裏，消費模式轉變、人口增長、城鎮化和基礎設施建設加快使需求量提高了三倍，我們現在的需求量是每年500億噸，平均每人每天18 kg。數十年來我們的需求量逐年超過容易獲取的沙資源量。”

Danish researchers and a Greenland government minister are exploring whether the massive island can become a sand exporter as its glaciers melt and release fine crushed sand into its waterways, as reported in The New York Times and Germany’s Der Spiegel.

據《紐約時報》和德國的《明鏡週刊》報道，丹麥的研究人員和一位格陵蘭政府部長正在商討這個大島能否出口沙子，因爲冰川熔化導致細沙被衝入河道。