Driest months in history impact Panama Canal

Global warming contributing to the El Niño phenomenon means that the last four months have been the driest in the entire hydrological history of the Panama Canal.

“'There is very little water from the rivers entering the Gatún and Alajuela lakes, sources of supply for the interoceanic canal locks and for the supply of 2 million people living in the metropolitan area of ​​the city," Carlos Vargas, vice president of Water and Environment of the Panama Canal told La Estrella.

The intensity of the solar radiation, added to a 30 percent increase in the winds, is causing the water in the lakes to evaporate at a faster rate than it enters and lake levels are falling at breakneck speed, Newsroom Panama reports.