Drying Out

0:00Exploring Science in the Sea The Panama Canal links the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean beyond. With all that water around it, it's hard to imagine the canal running low. But that's happened several times in recent years. And it could happen more often in the decades ahead. A result of our warming climate. The canal is crucial to the global economy. For ships traveling between the east and west coasts of the United States,

0:32it cuts the journey by about 9,000 miles in many days. On average, about 35 big ships pass through it every day. But in 2023 and 2024, the number was cut to as few as 24 per day. Ships were stacked up on both ends of the canal, stranded by historic drought conditions. Ships pass through a series of locks that lift them over higher ground in the middle of Panama. The locks are fed mainly by a large freshwater lake.

1:03Each passage uses tens of millions of gallons, most of which empties into the ocean. The drought was triggered in part by El Nino, which warms the eastern Pacific. It blocks rainfall over Panama while increasing evaporation. As the climate warms, El Nino-like conditions may become more common. A recent study found that additional warming might make canal operations even tougher. And under a worst-case scenario, major droughts could become common, turning the Panama Canal into a major bottleneck.

1:36The canal's operators are planning to build a new lake to boost the water supply, hedging their bets against warmer days ahead. Science in the Sea is a production of the University of Texas Marine Science Institute at Port Aransas. I'm Holly Brawley.