Snapshot of dark clouds loaded with water for the operation of the Panama Canal and the thirsty population of Panama. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
The Panama Canal opened its doors to the world in 1914, the same year the United States entered the First World War. It was a wonderful moment when the greatest nation on Earth built one of the seven modern wonders of the world. American creativity stretched technology to its edges, only seen during the construction of the great pyramids of Egypt.
A ship sailing from New York to San Francisco via the Panama Canal travels 5,900 miles, well under half the 14,000 miles route around Cape Horn (the southern tip of South America). The savings are enormous for the shipping companies.
The Panama Canal has seen its annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on, to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6 million Panama Canal/Universal Measurement System in 2008. In total, over 815,000 ocean-going vessels have transit through the vital international waterway.
Today, about 13,100 ships pass though the water lane annually, and the number is expected to double within the next fifty years. However, the Panama Canal Authority’s (PCA) officials warn, that within a decade, the canal’s operation may be in danger. The major causes of this bleak scenario are global warming, deforestation, increased shipping traffic, and bigger seagoing vessels.
The 50-mile canal splits the narrow isthmus that joins North and South America. The terrain was too mountainous to dig a sea-level canal from one coast to the other, so the American engineers decided to build a lake-and-lock canal. When a vessel enters the waterway from the Atlantic Ocean, a series of three locks raises it 85 feet to the man-made-Gatun Lake. The ship sails across this 163.38 square mile reservoir to the system of locks and lakes that lower it on the Pacific side of the canal.
Having sufficient water is imperative for the survival of the waterway, since great amounts of this precious liquid is lost to the sea on each Panama Canal transit. Each passage through the canal requires 52 million gallons of freshwater to float the ship through the locks. The water flows from the lakes (Miraflores Lake and Gatun Lake), through the locks and out to sea. As the number of vessels continues to rise, so does the water requirements. Heavy deforestation could also affect the quality of water that reaches the locks. The not-so-fresh water is causing the build-up of sediment and growth of vegetation in the locks and canal. The PCA must dredge the locks continually to enable safe passage through them.
In perspective, an Olympic-sized swimming pool holds approximately 253,125 gallons of water. This means that each time a vessel transits through the Panama Canal, an equivalent of 205.43 Olympic swimming pools’ water is lost to the ocean. That’s the reason why we need those water factories in the air working full time. If there’s no rainfall, there’s no water, and if there’s no water, there will be no canal. “Elementary, my Dear Watson.”
When I see dark clouds during the rainy season, I feel happy, because I know the factories are working, producing water for the canal. Our future depends on those water factories in the sky. Good Day.
Morning,
Here’s another curious fact about Panama’s canal, to get from the Atlantic to the Pacific, you travel West to East!
Due to Panama’s geography being east-west and the isthmus laying southwest to northeast, the canal crosses it northwest to southeast.
Of course, when I was stationed on Fort Grant off of Fort Amador, the sun rose in the Pacific and set in the Pacific. I was one very disoriented kid during that time (some will say I still am!).
jim and nena
fort worth, tx
Hi Jim and Nena:
Yep. The isthmus has a strange geographical position as you correctly said. Not many countries enjoy that characteristic. Thank you for reminding me of that unusual aspect of the Isthmus of Panama.
Take Care,
Omar.-