又一样东西变成稀缺资源：全球的沙子不够用了

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

在西班牙国家自然历史博物馆攻读生态学博士学位期间，Aurora Torres考虑的是基础设施和城市的杂乱无章。

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

但最终吸引她注意力的是听说牙买加的沙滩被盗。

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.

被盗沙滩的事以及印度和意大利、摩洛哥和毛里求斯的违法商品阴谋集团都代表了这个行业所面临的问题：全球沙子供应现状不稳定。

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

沙子和集料是沥青、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，或者沙子供应变得不可预测，将会对该行业产生严重影响。

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

沙子短缺的问题可能很复杂，但足以引起我们的注意。

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.”

联合国环境规划署于二月份发表了一篇关于沙子和可持续发展的报告。联合国环境规划署代理执行主任乔伊斯·姆苏亚写道：“过去二十年里，消费模式转变、人口增长、城镇化和基础设施建设加快使需求量提高了三倍，我们现在的需求量是每年500亿吨，平均每人每天18 kg。数十年来我们的需求量逐年超过容易获取的沙资源量。”

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.

据《纽约时报》和德国的《明镜周刊》报道，丹麦的研究人员和一位格陵兰政府部长正在商讨这个大岛能否出口沙子，因为冰川熔化导致细沙被冲入河道。