Hot stain

For other uses, see Ziehl-Neelsen stain.

A hot stain is a region of the world where safe drinking water has been depleted.[1] The term may have been coined by Goldman Environmental Prize winning hydrologist Michal Kravcik.[2] Hot stains can be found on every continent, except for Antarctica. The biggest reason for a hot stain to develop is population pressure. As the population grows, water demand increases.[3] Although the earth is covered in 97% water, only 1% of that water is available for human consumption.[4] Hot stains can cause great harm to a regions agricultural ability and can lead to food scarcity, famine, and even the abandonment of the region.[5]

Maude Barlow an environmental activist, head of the Council of Canadians, and founder of the Blue Planet Project has used the term 'hot stain' in regard to water resources.[6] In 2005, Maude Barlow received Sweden's Right Livelihood Award.

  1. ^ Maude Barlow (2008-02-01). Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis And The Coming Battle For The Right To Water. The New Press. pp. 208. ISBN 978-1-59558-186-0. Retrieved 2009-02-01.
  2. ^ Maude Barlow, Tony Clarke (2002). Blue Gold: The fight to stop the corporate theft of the world's water. The New Press, New York. p. 12. ISBN 1-56584-731-8. Retrieved 2010-03-21. Kravcik's scientists have also issued a dire warning about the growing number of what they call "hot stains" on the earth - places where previously existing water has already disappeared. In the near future, the "drying out" of the earth will cause drought; massive global warming with, its attendant extremes in weather; less protection from the atmosphere; increased solar radiation; decreased biodiversity; the melting of the polar ice caps; submersion of vast territories; massive continental desertification; and eventually, in Michael Kravcik's words, "global collapse".
  3. ^ Maude Barlow (2008-06-12). "Where Has All the Water Gone?". The American Prospect. Retrieved 2009-02-01. Scientists call them "hot stains" -- the parts of the Earth now running out of potable water. They include northern China, large areas of Asia and Africa, the Middle East, Australia, the Midwestern United States, and sections of South America and Mexico.
  4. ^ "Human Appropriation of the World's Fresh Water Supply". www.globalchange.umich.edu. Archived from the original on 2015-11-29. Retrieved 2015-11-26.
  5. ^ Ikerd, John (2013-05-18). "Who Pays The Cost of Water Depletion?". University of Missouri. Archived from the original on 2015-09-28. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
  6. ^ "Blue Planet Project website". Retrieved 2009-09-10.