Dear MEL Topic Readers,
An ‘unprecedented drought’ is affecting the Panama Canal. El Niño could make it worse.
Completed in 1914, Panama Canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the narrow Isthmus of Panama. The 65-kilometer-long canal shortens the voyage to round Cape Horn by about 15,000 kilometers between the east and west coasts of the US. The canal uses a lock system that lifts ships up 26 meters to the main elevation of the canal and down again. This system uses fresh water from reservoirs. However, Panama suffers from a severe drought now and expects the situation to get worse in the coming months. So, the Panamanian government is imposing surcharges and weight limits on ships sailing through the canal. If things got really worse, ships might have to take a longer route between the oceans or unload the cargo for ground transport. Whichever the case might be, it would take a longer time and higher cost as well as more greenhouse gas emissions.
Read the article and learn about how vital Panama Canal is for ocean transport.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/13/americas/panama-canal-water-levels-climate-intl-latam/index.html
An ‘unprecedented drought’ is affecting the Panama Canal. El Niño could make it worse.
Completed in 1914, Panama Canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the narrow Isthmus of Panama. The 65-kilometer-long canal shortens the voyage to round Cape Horn by about 15,000 kilometers between the east and west coasts of the US. The canal uses a lock system that lifts ships up 26 meters to the main elevation of the canal and down again. This system uses fresh water from reservoirs. However, Panama suffers from a severe drought now and expects the situation to get worse in the coming months. So, the Panamanian government is imposing surcharges and weight limits on ships sailing through the canal. If things got really worse, ships might have to take a longer route between the oceans or unload the cargo for ground transport. Whichever the case might be, it would take a longer time and higher cost as well as more greenhouse gas emissions.
Read the article and learn about how vital Panama Canal is for ocean transport.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/13/americas/panama-canal-water-levels-climate-intl-latam/index.html
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