Climate change imposes restrictions on the passage of ships in the Panama Canal

Weather of Arabia - The competent authorities in the management of the Panama Canal decided to impose restrictions on a number of ships crossing the canal this month due to the repercussions of the lack of rain resulting from climate change.

These restrictions are expected to remain in effect until at least next February. In this context, ship trips will be limited to 18 trips per day, which represents a 50% decrease compared to the same period last year.

Bloomberg News Agency reported that this problem has worsened enough to negatively affect the number of ships that can pass through this vital waterway, and this may harm the movement of trade in the areas of energy, food, and consumer goods. Consequently, cargo ships will have to travel thousands of additional miles to deliver their cargo if they are not allowed to pass through the canal.

The options for ships that will not be able to pass through the Panama Canal will be to either change course towards the Suez Canal in Egypt, which will add at least a week to the journey time between China and the United States, or to proceed south around the continent of South America, which will result in increased fuel consumption for the ships. And increased shipping costs.

Europe's rivers are damaged during record heatwaves

The current crisis reflects the impact of rivers in Europe during the region's record heatwaves in 2022. For example, we are seeing increasing evaporation in the Rhine and Danube rivers at a rate that has disrupted trade worth about $80 billion annually. This negative impact has also expanded to other sectors such as oil refining, power generation and corn farming.

In addition, last October witnessed the highest level of drought in Panama since records began in 1950. The water level in Lake Gatun, a freshwater lake through which ships pass on their way through the canal, dropped to an unprecedented level.

Source: news sites