https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/panama-canal-drying-up-and-
hundreds-of-ships-are-stuck/ar-AA1fv1bW

In what is being called the �world�s worst traffic jam,� some 200 cargo
ships are waiting to pass at the Panama Canal as, thanks to global climate
change, the area experiences its worst drought in 100 years. As Futurism
reports, the huge backlog has been growing for some time and might not get
any better for a few weeks yet. The human-made passageway is famous not
only as one of the world�s most impressive feats of engineering but as one
of the most important trade routes on Earth.

A historic drought has created the world�s largest traffic jam at the
Panama Canal with 200 ships trying to cross.

The Panama Canal relies on massive amounts of water, the supply of which
is shrinking in the current drought. As climate change continues across
the globe, extreme weather events and conditions such as droughts, floods,
and hurricanes are also increasing in both frequency and intensity. In
fact, this is not the first time in recent history the canal has been
struck by water shortages.

Drought at the Panama Canal has not been a common sight over much of the
past century, but climate change is altering that reality and trading it
for one that is much less desirable-and much more expensive. As recently
as 2019, similar conditions to the current dry spell have hit Panama,
which is normally one of the world�s wettest areas. Before that, the area
was also similarly parched in 2016, with each event getting worse than the
one before.

The current traffic jam at the Panama Canal comes two years year after one
ship managed to block the Suez Canal for weeks, and throw worldwide
shipping into chaos.

All of this comprises weather conditions that have been rare for the
Panama Canal in past decades, with the most recent drought of the current
severity dating back a century. As the global climate changes, though,
conditions like this continue to worsen. The current backlog of some 200
vessels is already causing a ripple effect that will impact businesses,
homes, and communities that rely on the supplies and products that come
through the waterway every day.

The Panama Canal is 50 miles long and is supplied with water by local
rainfall, meaning that a lack of precipitation forces canal authorities to
reduce the amount of water usage by slowing the flow of traffic.

The canal uses locks at each of its ends that fill with water to lift
ships from the ocean water level up to the level of the artificial Gatun
Lake, 85 feet above sea level, then lower them back down to sea level at
the other end. This process requires huge amounts of water, which is now
in shorter supply due to climate change, which is even changing ocean
colors.

To operate at full capacity, the Panama Canal uses in excess of 50 million
gallons of water daily, meaning that a climate change-induced shortage of
water necessitates slowed traffic.

Though the flow of ships at the Panama Canal started at about 1,000
vessels when it opened in 1914, that traffic has steadily increased. In
the 2022 fiscal year, the passageway was crossed by over 14,200 ships,
accounting for some 40% of U.S. container traffic and annually
representing $270 billion in cargo. Climate change causing droughts in an
area that is important to commercial maritime traffic is a serious problem
that has only gotten worse.

To operate at full capacity, the Panama Canal uses in excess of 50 million
gallons of water daily, meaning that a climate change-induced shortage of
water necessitates slowed traffic. As the conservation effort increases,
so do the fees charged to the cargo vessels passing through. With the
current limit set at 32 ships per day, the canal is down by four ships
daily from its usual cap of around 36.

This might not seem like a lot, but the slowed passage has left an
increasing number of ships waiting to cross the Panama Canal, now crossing
the 200 mark and the wait for passage averaging 20 days. Due to the
worsening drought, said canal administrator Ricaurte V�squez Morales at a
recent press conference, the restrictions could remain in effect through
the rest of 2023, resulting in a loss of revenue estimated at $200
million. Such is the cost of continued climate change.

�If we don�t adapt,� Morales says, �we are going to die.� It� true for the
Panama Canal, and for the planet as well.

--
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