Panama Canal Faces Worst Drought in Decades, Forcing Ships to Divert as Ancient Tree Stumps Emerge
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The Panama Canal is facing its worst drought in decades, forcing it to limit ships and traffic below capacity. This is disrupting global trade that relies on the canal.
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The drought has revealed ancient tree stumps that are usually underwater, illustrating the severity of the water shortage. Fixes like an artificial lake or cloud seeding could take years.
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In the short term, the canal is releasing water from a secondary reservoir to allow some ship traffic to continue, but capacity restraints will likely worsen again in the dry season.
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Long term, a $2 billion project to dam a river and pipe water to the canal's main reservoir could boost capacity. But the project faces opposition from local farmers and ranchers.
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Experts say climate change and infrastructure expansions without corresponding water supply boosts are to blame. The drought is forcing shippers back to older, longer routes around Africa and South America.