Welcome back to the top of another week, and if you’re in the U.S., the week leading up to Memorial Day. As summer finally approaches, expect more museums and outdoor sculpture and art parks to reopen, providing plenty of chances to get away even if you’re not comfortable returning to indoor events just yet.
Here’s what you need to know today:
Sand over-extraction could literally destabilize the planet
Sand, despite its seeming ubiquity, is a vital resource for everything from construction (required to produce cement and thus concrete) to glass and semiconductor manufacturing. That also means that, as with any extractive industry, sand is being over sourced, to the point where entire islands have eroded away and been rendered totally uninhabitable. Aside from the criminal cartels clashing to control the sand industry, the loss of habitat is forcing more people into cities… and…
