Name: 沙子不只是沙子：如果全球面臨沙子短缺，我們該怎麼辦？ (What if the world runs out of sand? | BBC Ideas)
Uploaded: 2025-09-12T21:01:30.000Z
Duration: 5 min 35 s

In 2008, an entire beach in Jamaica vanished. 500 truckloads of glittering white sand was stolen under the cover of darkness and never found.

2008 年，牙買加的一整片海灘消失了。500 卡車閃閃發光的白沙在夜幕的掩護下被盜，從此下落不明。

進階被動語態

In fact, sand is being stolen all over the world, highlighting how this seemingly plentiful material is now so valuable that people will go to extraordinary lengths to obtain it.

事實上，世界各地都有沙子被盜，這凸顯了這種看似豐富的材料現在是多麼珍貴，以至於人們會不惜一切代價來獲取它。

關係子句

Sand isn't just the gritty granules that trap between your toes when you're at the beach.

在海灘上，沙子不僅僅是夾在腳趾間的沙粒。

It's a mirror of the Earth's history that takes thousands, if not millions, of years to form.

它是地球歷史的一面鏡子，需要數千年甚至數百萬年才能形成。

The colors of sand tell stories of landscapes long gone.

沙子的顏色訴說著逝去已久的風景。

On tropical beaches, sand gleams white, formed from the crushed skeletons of coral and marine life.

在熱帶海灘上，沙子由珊瑚和海洋生物的碎骨架形成，閃著白光。

Along volcanic shores, it turns black, from basalt born of molten lava.

在火山沿岸，由熔岩形成的玄武岩會變成黑色。

Red sands carry the tale of ancient iron-rich rocks oxidized over time.

紅沙是富含鐵元素的古老岩石經過長期氧化形成的。

And it's not just what sand's made of, it's also what can live in it.

沙子不僅是由什麼構成的，還可以生活在其中。

The Magher Sand Dunes in Scotland are home to hundreds of plants and animals and show just how vibrant and full of life sand can be.

蘇格蘭的馬赫沙丘是數百種動植物的家園，展示了沙子是如何充滿生機和活力。

Like tree rings, the layers of a sand dune tell its history.

就像樹的年輪一樣，沙丘的層層疊疊訴說著它的歷史。

In the Namib Desert, scientists use optical luminescence to reveal the sand's age, calculating the last time it saw sunlight.

在納米布沙漠，科學家利用光學發光技術揭示沙子的年齡，計算出沙子最後一次見到陽光的時間。

In Utah, petrified Jurassic dunes formed 180 million years ago are hardened into a magnificent alien landscape.

在猶他州，1.8 億年前形成的石化侏羅紀沙丘被硬化成壯麗的異域景觀。

Sand exhibits mysterious and unusual physics.

沙子呈現出神祕而不尋常的物理特性。

In the Sahara, singing sand dunes produce a haunting hum heard for kilometers.

在撒哈拉沙漠，歌唱的沙丘發出縈繞數公里的嗡嗡聲。

This phenomenon occurs when a disturbance, like a small avalanche, sets the dune vibrating like a plucked cello string.

這種現象發生在沙丘受到干擾時，就像一場小型雪崩，使沙丘像撥動的大提琴絃一樣振動。

28 million years ago, a meteor struck the Libyan desert sand and out of the intense forces forged one of the rarest materials, Libyan desert glass.

2800 萬年前，一顆流星撞擊了利比亞沙漠的沙子，在強烈的力量作用下，形成了一種最稀有的材料--利比亞沙漠玻璃。

So rare and prized, it sits in the center of Tutankhamen's breastplate, carved as a golden scarab.

它是如此稀有和珍貴，就鑲嵌在圖坦卡門胸甲的中央，被雕刻成金色的猩紅寶石。

Sand's versatility as a building material was understood by the Romans.

羅馬人瞭解沙子作為建築材料的多功能性。

They figured out how to mix sand with lime and volcanic ash to create concrete, an invention that's literally stood the test of time.

他們想出了將沙子與石灰和火山灰混合製成混凝土的方法，這一發明經受住了時間的考驗。

The Romans constructed vast networks of roads, aqueducts, and structures whose remains have survived for two millennia.

羅馬人建造了龐大的道路網、引水渠和建築，其遺蹟已保存了兩千年。

The Pantheon in Rome has the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. 4,000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia, humans first crafted glass using a simple mixture of sand, lime, and soda, heated, then rapidly cooled.

羅馬萬神殿擁有世界上最大的非加固混凝土穹頂。4000 年前，在古美索不達米亞，人類首次使用沙子、石灰和蘇打的簡單混合物製作玻璃，加熱後迅速冷卻。

Today, it's in the windows we peer through, the screens we touch, and the fiber optic cables that carry our thoughts close to the speed of light.

如今，它存在於我們窺視的窗戶、觸摸的螢幕以及以接近光速傳遞我們思想的光纜中。

Silicon chips, the brains behind everything from smartphones to space shuttles, are also made from precious quartz sand.

矽晶片是從智慧型手機到太空梭等一切設備的大腦，也是由珍貴的石英砂製成的。

We're literally surfing the internet on sand particles.

It's hard to imagine our world running out of sand when we have deserts like the Sahara covering 8% of the planet and totaling over 9 million square kilometers.

很難想象我們的世界會缺沙，因為像撒哈拉這樣的沙漠佔地球面積的 8%，總面積超過 900 萬平方公里。

But desert sand, with its smooth, rounded grains shaped by wind, is useless in construction.

但是，沙漠中的沙粒被風吹得光滑圓潤，對建築毫無用處。

Instead, the world's insatiable need for concrete buildings, bridges, and motorways demands sand from rivers and coastlines which has angular grains that lock together like a jigsaw puzzle.

相反，世界上對混凝土建築、橋樑和高速公路的需求永不滿足，這就需要從河流和海岸線上開採沙子，這些沙子的顆粒稜角分明，就像拼圖一樣鎖在一起。

而這些可用的沙子已經不多了。

Mining sand from rivers and coastlines disrupts ecosystems and threatens species that depend on those sediments.

從河流和海岸線開採沙子會破壞生態系統，威脅到依賴這些沉積物的物種。

Sand flows down rivers, protecting shorelines, builds deltas, and helps prevent flooding.

沙子順著河流流下，保護了海岸線，構建了三角洲，並有助於防止洪水。

When too much is taken, a chain reaction is set off, leading to severe floods and erosion, making us more vulnerable to nature's forces.

一旦攝入過多，就會引發連鎖反應，導致嚴重的洪水和侵蝕，使我們更容易受到自然力量的影響。

In parts of the world, so-called sand mafias, illegal mining gangs, dredge for sand so intensely that it's causing riverbanks to collapse, destroying villages.

在世界部分地區，所謂的沙場黑手黨（非法採礦團伙）瘋狂挖沙，導致河岸坍塌，村莊被毀。

Those who oppose them often face violent retaliation.

Sand has become a commodity so valuable that people are willing to kill for it.

沙子已經成為一種商品，價值連城，以至於人們願意為之殺人。

Today, concrete is the most common building material on the planet.

如今，混凝土是地球上最常見的建築材料。

If it were a country, it would rank among the world's top carbon emitters.

如果它是一個國家，它將躋身世界碳排放大國之列。

If we were to embrace more sustainable building practices based on local materials and conditions, sand could be preserved for essential purposes and protected from overextraction.

如果我們能夠根據當地的材料和條件，採用更加可持續的建築方法，那麼沙子就可以被保留下來，用於必要的用途，並防止過度開採。

Vulnerable rivers and dunes could also be protected using cattle or sheep to naturally manage vegetation, shift sand, and boost biodiversity, or by planting natural barriers like mangroves to shield coastlines.

還可以利用牛羊保護脆弱的河流和沙丘，讓它們自然管理植被、轉移沙子並促進生物多樣性，或者種植紅樹林等天然屏障來保護海岸線。

So the next time you're walking on a beach, take a moment to feel the sand under your feet.

所以，下次當你漫步在海灘上時，請花點時間感受腳下的沙子。

You're standing on one of humanity's most prized resources, the remains of ancient ecosystems, and perhaps even the stuff that powers your smartphone.

你正站在人類最珍貴的資源之一、遠古生態系統的遺蹟上，甚至可能是為你的智能手機提供動力的東西。

These tiny grains of sand are our history, sure, but they're also our future.

當然，這些細小的沙粒是我們的歷史，但它們也是我們的未來。