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Serious question. So I know limestone is technically a non-renewable resource, since we're using it far faster than it is being created. Should, uh, we actual
by saalweachter 9y ago
Serious question.
So I know limestone is technically a non-renewable resource, since we're using it far faster than it is being created.
Should, uh, we actually be worried? It's like 7% of the Earth's crust; are we actually using limestone fast enough to use up a significant fraction of the usable limestone in the expected lifetime of humanity?
- eicossa 9y agoI've always wondered the same about iron ore, granite, marble etc.
- Baeocystin 9y agoThe BBC put together a world resource list a couple years back that I think you might find interesting. http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120618-global-resources-stock-check http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120618-global-resources-st... It lists a variety of elements (like antimony) that are surprisingly constrained. If I were to pick the most critical material on the list, though, it would be phosphates. The green boom that feeds the world needs phosphates, the world supply of phosphate-bearing rock is small, and there are no possible substitutes.
- Baeocystin 9y agoNot in the least. There are other resources that we do need to worry about, of course. But lime and limestone are not on the list.