Posted on 02/07/2024 4:38:54 AM PST by xoxox
For months, a withering drought has created major traffic jams at the Panama Canal. The drought, which may have been exacerbated by climate change, has left the canal’s water levels lower than ever, forcing Panama to let fewer ships through. The restrictions have led to delays, increased shipping costs, and uncertainty over the future of one of the world’s critical trade chokepoints.
“This has fundamentally changed how shipping through the canal works,” said Soren Stokkebaek Andersen, a regional commercial manager at Leth Agencies, a shipping agency.
(Excerpt) Read more at foreignpolicy.com ...
I did read the article, yes they said it was man made lakes. So they are unable to pump sea water which they say is rising to those man made lakes?
Why would you want to pump sea water into fresh water lakes?
I agree 100%
The Americans ran the Canal for 80 years. I’m sure there were El Niño weather events during that time.
Your comment about “deeper” is the key. The bigger ships run deeper and Gatun Lake is not as deep during periods of low rainfall. They didn’t make the lake deeper or increase the water in the lake when they added the 3rd lock.
LOL! Just as I suspected, they left out some critical information that doesn’t suit their agenda.
The Panamanians expanded the canal a few years ago using the plans drawn up by American engineers many years ago when the US still ran the canal. All well and good. But the expansion plans called for a 2nd river to be damned and another large reservoir to be created which would help offset the increased water usage from the expanded canal.
The Panamanians didn’t do that part.
So now they’re using more water than ever due to the expansion but they’re doing it from the original reservoir which was never designed to be able to accommodate a canal that large. The result - which should come as no surprise - is that they’re running low on water.
So naturally these propagandists take that as an opportunity to push Gaia worship without ever bothering to mention the reason why the canal doesn’t have the water to operate at full capacity and instead attributing it all to “climate change”.
DING!
You put it more succinctly. The Panamanians did not dam the 2nd river and create the 2nd reservoir they were supposed to in order to operate the expanded canal at full capacity.
Yep ... Increase required operational water volumes by a significant amount without increasing available supply ... maybe if they had one of those evil “legacy” mathmeticians or engineers on their staff they would not be in this position
“There is no such thing as human caused climate change worldwide. There is local climate impact e.g. Chernoble.”
Thank you. What really ticks me off is a state like California forces regressive, failed climate policies on companies because they think by doing this California will have less climate change.
This is what happens when you let the Chinese run something.
They added a third lane or lock in a section of the canal. When US engineers planned for this expansion they included an additional man made Lake to supply the needed water. When the Panamanians took over the canal they completed the canal work but never built the new lake. That is the reason they are having problems now.
Maybe they’ll get buyer’s remorse and sell it back to us for cheap.
They are man made lakes, they were not there before, they were made to hold water for the canal to use, if they need water, pump water.
“Why is the Panama Canal drying up?
Gatun Lake, which forms a key stretch of the canal system and provides fresh water for its locks, saw little rain this year, as El Niño triggered a withering drought.”
Ok, is there a reason(s) why we can’t open the gate’s on the PC and keep the other gates closed for the fresh water gates. Let the water equalize and then start opening the side gates and refill the tanks/lakes. If the side tanks/lakes go to be salty then the locals will have to adjust to it.
Yes. That is constantly happening 24/7.
Turn on the pump, Juan!
So, they are saying that the canal, which I presume utilizes ocean water, is running dry, but ocean water levels are normal??? Sum Ting Wong here.
Panama has a high ridgeline running down the center of the country, which ships moving across have to take first steps upwards through the locks, then after passing the ridge, take similar steps through the locks leading downward. The necessary water to effect this drainage has always come from heavy rainfall in the interior, which provided the float both up and down the stepped locks.
If the rains fail, the locks are soon drained dry.
My solution for the forfeiture of the Panama Canal is to dig a sea-level trench at least a half-mile wide all the way from Brownsville, Texas, to Chula Vista, California, following the course of the Rio Grande River, and where the Rio Grande turns inland, continue to cut a trench along the US-Mexican border through the mountains, crossing the Colorado River between California and Arizona, and continuing on the US/Mexico border all the way to the Pacific Ocean. With the entire length all at sea level, there would be little need for locks of any kind, and El Paso, Texas, becomes a seaport.
Mexico is thus no longer contiguous with the US, with a trench much too deep to simply wade across, and with what would be a steep bank, mostly not even accessible on foot.
High suspension bridges would then be the only surface access between US and Mexico, and commerce would have to funnel over these access points.
The spoil from dredging out the depths of this trench would be hauled out into the Gulf of Mexico, to build an artificial island, which would be a holding facility for all persons who wish to enter the US on asylum or for extralegal reasons where they would be retained until they were sent home, or alternatively, sent home.
That’s part of Jimmy Carter’s legacy. Casting pearls to swine.
The seas(oceans) do not feed the Panama Canal.
It’s still garbage non science.
We built it. We gave it to Panama. They leased it to the Chinese who trashed it. QED.
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