Causing irreversible damage, 6 billion tons per year! United Nations warning: excessive exploitation of sea sand
On the 5th local time, the United Nations Environment Programme warned that humans extract an average of 6 billion tons of sea sand annually, and this unsustainable mining activity will cause irreversible damage to marine life.
On the 5th, the United Nations Environment Programme announced that according to global public data on ocean sand mining, humans extract 4 to 8 billion tons of sediment from the marine environment each year, with an average of 6 billion tons of sea sand per year.
![Causing irreversible damage, 6 billion tons per year! United Nations warning: excessive exploitation of sea sand](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/bd4988dae376b2adbed722538d92fd54.jpg)
Pascal Pedu, Director of the Global Resource Information Database of the United Nations Environment Programme: 6 billion tons of sea sand can build a 10 meter high and 10 meter wide wall, enough to encircle the Earth. Or equivalent to 8 billion people worldwide mining 2 kilograms per person per day, which can fill over 1 million trucks per day.
This institution stated that the mining speed in some areas has exceeded the formation rate of sea sand, which is unsustainable and the mining methods can cause damage to marine ecology.
![Causing irreversible damage, 6 billion tons per year! United Nations warning: excessive exploitation of sea sand](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/d24729b150f2a38a5bab19ec219a25b2.jpg)
Pascal Pedu, Director of the Global Resource Information Database of the United Nations Environment Programme: Look at these sand dredgers, they are like huge underwater vacuum cleaners, sucking up everything that settles on the seabed, destroying some of the microbial communities that fish rely on for survival, and having an impact on biodiversity and fisheries.
Reuters reported that sand is the most exploited resource by humans, second only to water resources, and is widely used in industries such as construction and decoration. In addition to sea sand, humans extract over 50 billion tons of sand from land every year.
![Causing irreversible damage, 6 billion tons per year! United Nations warning: excessive exploitation of sea sand](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/60e76de7d18c590c07a44e490460bca8.jpg)