The World’s Disappearing Sand 
Sand is the essential ingredient that makes modern life possible. And we are starting to run out.
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The Deadly Global War for Sand
Battles sparked by sand mining have reportedly killed hundreds in recent years—including police officers, government officials, and ordinary people.
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Sand mining: the global environmental crisis you’ve probably never heard of
From Cambodia to California, industrial-scale sand mining is causing wildlife to die, local trade to wither and bridges to collapse. And booming urbanisation means the demand for this increasingly valuable resource is unlikely to let up
He who controls the sand: the mining ‘mafias’ killing each other to build cities
Rapid urbanisation has made an ordinary commodity suddenly precious: sand.As cities continue to voraciously need concrete, glass and asphalt, illegal sand mining has sparked a global wave of gang violence
Is Shanghai’s Appetite for Sand Killing China’s Biggest Lake? 
Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting: The Global War for Sand