A looming tragedy of the sand commons

Torres, Aurora; Brandt, Jodi S.; Lear, Kristen; Liu, Jianguo

doi:10.1126/science.aao0503

Cited by 382 publications

(187 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The characteristics of the telecoupling framework, and the ways in which it differs from other frameworks, are discussed in greater detail in Liu et al 2013. This framework has quickly gained popularity and has been successfully applied to a series of important issues, such as payment for ecosystem services programs , flows of ecosystem services (Liu et al 2016a), international land deals , energy https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol23/iss3/art17/ trade (Fang et al 2016), urban water sustainability , Yang et al 2016, species migration (Hulina et al 2017), species invasion , conservation (Carter et al 2014, Gasparri et al 2016, Wang and Liu 2017, Yang et al 2018, fisheries (Carlson et al 2017), trade of sand (Torres et al 2017), and trade of food and forest products , Liu 2014.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complex effects of natural disasters on protected areas through altering telecouplings

Zhang¹,

Connor²,

Yang³

et al. 2018

E&S

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ABSTRACT. Increasingly, protected areas have been connected with the rest of the world through telecouplings (socioeconomic and environmental interactions over distances) that are essential for their structures and functions. Unfortunately, many of the Earth's protected areas are located in regions with frequent natural disasters that can profoundly affect telecouplings. Although there have been many studies evaluating socioeconomic or ecological effects of natural disasters separately, systematic evaluations of socioeconomic and ecological effects of natural disasters by altering multiple telecouplings have remained rare. With long-term data collected in China's Wolong Nature Reserve for giant pandas (Wolong), we applied the telecoupling framework to assess the effects of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake on telecouplings that link Wolong with the rest of the world, as well as their subsequent effects on coupled human and natural systems in Wolong. Our results show that the earthquake altered all major components of multiple telecouplings and generated complex socioeconomic and ecological effects in Wolong. Based on these understood effects, we provide suggestions to enhance environmental sustainability and human well-being in Wolong and beyond.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complex effects of natural disasters on protected areas through altering telecouplings

Zhang¹,

Connor²,

Yang³

et al. 2018

E&S

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“…This is because industrial concrete and mortar production require the use of more tightly controlled aggregates, production of which requires more sophisticated industrial processing, which in turn requires a larger operation which can be more easily controlled. Besides the cost of tax evasion, informal mining has a higher environmental impact than formal operations (Macedo, de Almeida Mello Freire, & Akimoto, ) and recently became an internationally recognized environmental problem (Torres et al., ). Comparing official statistics data (IBGE, ) of Brazil sand consumption with the results obtained in this study, illegal mining activities and small establishment not covered by the IBGE survey represents 90% of sand material flow.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unused extraction and quarry waste due to mining and quarrying activities are considered to have potential environmental impacts (Krausmann, Schandl, Eisenmenger, Giljum, & Jackson, 2017;Torres, Brandt, Lear, & Liu, 2017) and generate local anthropogenic disturbance, especial for construction minerals (Yoshida, Fishman, Okuoka, & Tanikawa, 2017). Nevertheless, data are fairly limited (Eurostat, 2018;Fisher-Kowalski, Krausmann, Giljum, & Lutter, 2011), with only a few MFA inventories even partially considering these type of flows (Kapur et al, 2009;Low, 2005).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Material flow analysis and material use efficiency of Brazil's mortar and concrete supply chain

Reis

Mack-Vergara

John

2019

J of Industrial Ecology

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Cementitious materials, mostly concrete and mortar, account for about one‐third of all materials extraction worldwide. Material flow data in this industry are still unsatisfactory, especially related to unused extraction materials, quarry wastes, and water consumption, aspects which usually are not included in environmental analysis studies. The aim of this study is to conduct a material flow analysis (MFA) of the Brazilian concrete and mortar supply chain to quantify material use efficiency (ME) and dematerialization potential. The MFA includes extraction, production, and construction stages for the following indicators: i) unused extraction; ii) quarry waste; iii) water consumption; iv) material wastage; v) raw material consumption; vi) energy carriers; and vii) atmospheric emissions. The results demonstrated that the primary raw material footprint is about 456 million metric tons (Mt) corresponding to a metabolic rate of 2.2 metric tons/capita (t/capita). After including unused extraction, quarry wastes, water consumption, and secondary materials this value increases to 4.1 t/capita corresponding to a total material consumption of 840 Mt. Concrete and mortar can be produced using two routes—mixing on site or industrial mixing. We conclude that the industrial scenario allows for dematerialization by about 8% for concrete and 24% for mortar, by mass; and the average material use efficiency is low, at about 53% for concrete and 34% for mortar.

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“…Also, the bottom of the North Sea may have insufficient producible volumes of sand for nourishment and socio-economic developments may compete for sand as a resource (e.g. for building infrastructure [86,87]). This suggests that a different governance may be needed to accommodate the scale and frequency of the required nourishment (e.g.…”

Section: Coastline Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptation to uncertain sea-level rise; how uncertainty in Antarctic mass-loss impacts the coastal adaptation strategy of the Netherlands

Haasnoot

Kwadijk

Alphen³

et al. 2020

Environ. Res. Lett.

105

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Uncertainties in the rate and magnitude of sea-level rise (SLR) complicate decision making on coastal adaptation. Large uncertainty arises from potential ice mass-loss from Antarctica that could rapidly increase SLR in the second half of this century. The implications of SLR may be existential for a lowlying country like the Netherlands and warrant exploration of high-impact low-likelihood scenarios. To deal with uncertain SLR, the Netherlands has adopted an adaptive pathways plan. This paper analyzes the implications of storylines leading to extreme SLR for the current adaptive plan in the Netherlands, focusing on flood risk, fresh water resources, and coastline management. It further discusses implications for coastal adaptation in low-lying coastal zones considering timescales of adaptation including the decisions lifetime and lead-in time for preparation and implementation. We find that as sea levels rise faster and higher, sand nourishment volumes to maintain the Dutch coast may need to be up to 20 times larger than to date in 2100, storm surge barriers will need to close at increasing frequency until closed permanently, and intensified saltwater intrusion will reduce freshwater availability while the demand is rising. The expected lifetime of investments will reduce drastically. Consequently, step-wise adaptation needs to occur at an increasing frequency or with larger increments while there is still large SLR uncertainty with the risk of under-or overinvesting. Anticipating deeply uncertain, high SLR scenarios helps to enable timely adaptation and to appreciate the value of emission reduction and monitoring of the Antarctica contribution to SLR.

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A looming tragedy of the sand commons

Abstract: Increasing sand extraction, trade, and consumption pose global sustainability challenges

Cited by 382 publications

References 12 publications

Complex effects of natural disasters on protected areas through altering telecouplings

Complex effects of natural disasters on protected areas through altering telecouplings

Material flow analysis and material use efficiency of Brazil's mortar and concrete supply chain

Adaptation to uncertain sea-level rise; how uncertainty in Antarctic mass-loss impacts the coastal adaptation strategy of the Netherlands

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