Drought hits Panama Canal shipping, highlights climate fears

[NickB79]

http://www.startribune.com/drought-hits-panama-canal-shipping-highlights-climate-fears/509250982/

GATÚN, Panama — An intense drought related to this year's El Nino phenomenon has precipitously lowered the level of Panama's Gatun Lake, forcing the country's Canal Authority to impose draft limits this week on ships moving through the waterway's recently expanded locks.

The restrictions on how deep the vessels can reach below the surface means large ships, primarily from the United States and China, must pass through with less cargo, which translates into lower revenue for the voyages. The driest period in memory for the canal basin is also hitting small indigenous villages that depend on tourism along the tributaries of the inter-oceanic passage.

The economic hit to canal operators stands to be minor — an estimated $15 million this year, compared with the $2.5 billion in revenue generated in 2018. But the drought and the resulting restrictions highlight the difficulties Panama faces in satisfying increased demand for fresh water to feed the canal while irrigating fields and keeping the taps flowing in the capital as climate change threatens more extreme weather events.

[sdfernando]

1. Lived in Panama in the late '60s

The canal is a wonder of engineering. The original locks, not the new one, relied exclusively on water from Gatun lake which is mostly from rainwater. Once it was used, it was sent out to sea, none of it was recycled or reused. The new locks do reuse much of the water.

Interesting little trivia tidbit...the Atlantic ocean locks are west of the Pacific ocean locks.

[hunter]

2. We could always blast a canal through Columbia using hydrogen bombs...

http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2014/ph241/powell1/

Plans for a Nicaraga canal are currently "defunct."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua_Canal

Or maybe with climate change it doesn't matter. Once the Norhtwest passage is open, and as the tropics become hellish, a canal through Central America might be much less useful.

Is the Arctic set to become a main shipping route?

--snip--

For shipping firms transporting goods from China or Japan to Europe or the east coast of the US, the passage would cut thousands of miles off journeys that currently go via the Panama or Suez canals.

The Canadian government is certainly hopeful that this will be the case.

Late last month the country's trade minister Jim Carr said that the route "will in a matter of a generation, probably be available year round".

--more--

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45527531

Just thinking ahead...