How the climate crisis threatens the Panama Canal – and the country’s future

Ships waiting to cross the Panama Canal on the Pacific side in August 2023. Traffic through the waterway was regulated in response to a drop in water levels at Lake Gatun, which holds reserves essential to the canal’s operation. Photograph: Mauricio Valenzuela/dpa/Alamy

A queue of cargo ships stretches across the Caribbean Sea, waiting to traverse the Panama Canal towards the Pacific. It is a cloudy June day and the region and the region has spent over a year in drought, the third worst since the canal opened in 1914, forcing the authorities to restrict the number and size of vessels crossing the continent, creating today’s waterborne traffic jam.

The vessel limits are a response to a drop in water levels at Lake Gatun, a water reserve essential for the canal’s operation.