IT'S OVER: The Panama Canal Has FINALLY Dried Up

IT’S OVER: The Panama Canal Has FINALLY Dried Up

the Panama Canal a critical 82 km long
Waterway opened in 1914 serving as a
vital shortcut between the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans has suddenly dried up
dealing a significant blow to the
economies of numerous Nations its
importance in facilitating
Transportation needs spans across
countries like the United States China
and South Korea the sudden dryness
raises questions about its cause and the
implications for the world economy stay
tuned as I reveal the mystery behind
this unprecedented event before we delve
into recent Revelations understanding
the historical context is crucial the
dawn of the Panama Canal marked a
revolutionary shift eliminating the
Hazardous Journey Sailors once faced
navigating the Drake Passage and the
straight of mellan around the tip of
South America Spanish explorers
initiated the transformative project to
create a canal cutting through the ismos
between North and South America this
ambitious Endeavor aimed to streamline
travel between the oceans significantly
reducing Journey times for ships
initially the Spanish explor various
options ultimately choosing Panama due
to the existence of a railroad
constructed by the United States in the
1800s however the journey to realizing
the Canal’s construction was fraught
with challenges in 1881 an initial
attempt by a French company Corp
Universal du canal in Aros led by
Ferdinand aesops faced skepticism
despite his successful completion of the
Suz Canal the proposal to construct a
sea level canal in Panama garnered
support from numerous individuals but
not without opposition Adolf Goden
lepine an engineer voiced concerns about
the feasibility of the plan advocating
for an alternative route through the
Continental Divide where the Rio Grande
and shager River flowed into their
respective oceans this alternative
located approximately 15 km from the
Pacific Ocean presented a different
approach to connecting the Atlantic and
Pacific challenging the conventional
wisdom surrounding the Canal’s
construction according to LEP they can
use both rivers to build artificial
Lakes so he proposed creating large
Lakes by building dams at two locations
gatun and Miraflores the water from
these Rivers would fill the Lakes which
would be about 25 M deep he then
suggested creating a channel through the
mountains to connect the Lakes he
further said they should use locks to
raise and lower ships between the
different water levels to connect them
to the ocean however even though the
engineers applauded Lep’s idea the
French Construction Company didn’t use
it the company rejected his idea and
continued with its original Vision
unfortunately this only led to failure
because Ferdinand was unprepared for the
difficulties he would face in Panama he
was wrong to compare Panama with Egypt
but that was catastrophic Panama differs
completely from the dry and predictable
environment he encountered while
building the Suez Canal it was a humid
disease-ridden jungle with intense
downpours heat and harsh terrain that
started from Coastal swamps to the
Towering mountains of the Continental
Divide even with capable Engineers the
overall plan lacked a clear Direction
and plan to attack the present
circumstances the machine Machinery they
brought was unsuited for Panama’s
difficult terrain the manufacturers made
it for the desert-like conditions of the
Suez Canal which ultimately led to the
Project’s end to top it all off the
workers and Engineers battled with
tropical illnesses that took many lives
to cut back costs the French business
moved from a sea level to a less
expensive design that used locks to
alter water levels regretfully the
problem didn’t get much better after
this adjustment as the project showed no
signs of being lucrative the French
people started to lose faith in the
canal and its Commander after many
failed attempts the business finally
filed for bankruptcy in 1889 the
engineers made diverse efforts to
resurrect the company in
1894 however all their efforts didn’t
yield any fruit eventually the company
stopped operation in 1898 marking the
end of its goal to build the Panama
Canal but is that the end of the story
of course not even though the gold died
in the hands of the French it came alive
in the hands of a new country
surprisingly this country didn’t use
much of the French excavation labor so
which country took up the project the
emergence of the Americans in 1902 the
Congress of the United States passed the
Spooner act this act permitted the
United States to purchase the French
company’s resources equipment and the
authority to construct the canal however
there was one very important requirement
they needed to strike a deal with
Colombia the country in charge of Panama
at the time unfortunately the talks with
Colombia came to a standstill sensing an
opportunity Panama declared its
independence from Columbia in November
1903 with the support of the United
States with all restrictions out the
United States and Panama started their
negotiations this led to the signing of
the heeran treaty in February
1994 this contract established the
Panama Canal Zone wherein the United
States would have jurisdiction over the
canal and its surrounding lands this
satisfied the requirements outlined in
The Spooner act the United States
started construction on the canal in the
summer of 1904 after observing the
French experience they constructed a
canal with locks to save money and
prevent any issues arising from
differential sea levels on either side
that sounds like there won’t be any
further issues but you are wrong the
Americans were just about to unearth new
challenges the first barrier was the
shager river this River’s water levels
varied significantly according to the
rain that fell flowing from the
mountains in Northern pan to the
Atlantic Ocean if they construct the
Canal close to a river unchecked
flooding might quickly overwhelm it
president Theodore Roosevelt made a
crucial choice in 1906 he sided with
head engineer John Frank Stevens who
favored a canal with locks comparable to
Lep’s initial proposal which was the
same proposal that the French rejected
this concept called for constructing a
sizable Dam at Gaton to spam the shager
river this served two purposes first It
produced the Gaton Lake this was at the
time the biggest lake in the world and
it helped regulate the flow of the
shager river and secondly the lake grew
to rep represent a substantial section
of the 20m canal path the construction
project was a huge operation that
involved more than 40,000 workers at its
height most of the workforce comprised
laborers from the West Indies While most
Engineers administrators and skilled
laborers were from the United States
they needed strong tools and equipment
to build the enormous Canal so railroads
became essential for moving supplies and
commodities all over using more than 100
steam shovels was one of the biggest
Innovations during the operation these
enormous excavators were essential in
Excavating the Cabra cut which was
subsequently dubbed guyard cut in honor
of the American architect David do Gard
who managed the Project’s development
until his death but in 1913 the Cabra
cut was among the most difficult parts
of the undertaking due to the unstable
Rock and soil there were frequent
mudslides and landslides in the area
tragically many lives were lost while
building it forecasting and planning for
these erratic movements of the earth and
mud was challenging and the weight of
the nearby Hill sides may even cause the
excavation bottom to rise unexpectedly
The Cucaracha slide of 1907 is one
particularly well-known incident this
Relentless Landslide occurred for years
depositing millions of cubic yards of
material into the canal excavation and
causing serious setbacks the laborers
persisted in the face of these
difficulties frequently working in
sweltering heat that reached 38° C they
used a variety of instruments including
steam shovels dynamite and rock drills
to remove 73 3 million cubic M of rock
and Earth this unwavering labor made the
future possible eventually dropping the
excavation floor within 40 ft of sea
level despite many difficulties
disappointments and deaths the Panama
Canal officially opened for traffic on
the 15th of 1914 you must be eager to
hear how this canal has benefited the
people businesses and government But
first you need to know how the canal
works because this has contributed to
its drying up so how does it work how
the canal works the Panama River doesn’t
work like every other Canal when a ship
arrives at the Canal’s entrance it
encounters a series of three separate
locks divided by Gates the sea level
ship travels into the first lock when
the first gate opens the gates behind
the ship close and then a valve pumps
water from the second lock into the
first lock which lowers the water level
in the second lock and raises the water
level and the ship in the first lock
when the water levels between both locks
become equivalent the second gate is
opened and the ship travels through the
second lock then the second gates are
closed and repeated leveling the water
between the second and third locks the
third gate opens up the ship travels
into the third lock the water level is
raised again from the lake on the other
side and the third gate opens up the
ship travels into the third lock that’s
how they raise the ships 26 mi from
where they started at sea level then
they can effortlessly travel the rest of
the way across Panama largely over Lake
gatun which is 26 M up in elevation this
Lake was artificially created by daming
the nearby shager River to flood the
interior when the ship reaches the other
end of Lake katun it must be lowered
Back to the Sea through the same process
it’s undoubtedly a genius design built
to overcome Panama’s hilly topography
however the big issue with this process
is that it requires much fresh water to
function when the ship enters that first
lock the water level within the lock is
raised by the water being pumped into it
from the second lock originally coming
down the chain from Lake Gaton but then
to accept the next ship into the canal
from sea level that extra water in the
first lock has to be emptied into the
ocean and this is the same on either of
the Canal’s ends the canal uses water
from two artificially created freshwater
reservoirs nearby lake Aloha and Lake
Aton with Lake Aton being the primary
source each Transit through the Panama
Canal consumes around 52 million gallons
of fresh water from these reservoirs
which makes the whole process possible
the water that’s lost from the
reservoirs is usually replenished with
rainfall so as long as the rain
continues replenishing the Lakes the
water that the canal drains from the
Lakes will keep getting replenished and
the canal can continue operating as
usual but what happens during a really
bad drought when no rain falls the
system breaks down and your guess is as
good as mine the canal begins to dry so
from the start how it works defines how
it dies but then there is more to this
before we discuss that let’s look at the
Canal’s influence on International
Commerce the Panama Canal and commerce
one of the most notable and influential
engineering Feats ever attempted was the
Panama Canal records show that the canal
recorded more than 15,000 transits in
1970 since then the volume of cargo that
the canal carries has increased the
number of ships using the canal as a
means of navigation is a useful
indication of the General Health of the
world economy a spike in traffic is
observed on the channel during periods
of worldwide economic expansion while
during recessions activity decreases 86
ships only used the canal during a
difficult Financial period you could
tell if World commerce was thriving just
by noting the number of ships or cargos
that passed the canal although many
routes use the canal trade between East
Asia and the United States East Coast
dominates them all a large amount of the
Canal’s traffic goes via this route it
travels across the Panama Canal carrying
a variety of Commodities including coal
wheat petroleum products and Motor
Vehicles the East Coast depends on it to
remain connected to Asia while the West
Coast relies on it to remain connected
to Europe the canal is also a vital
strategic interest to the United States
Navy as it enables American Naval assets
to rapidly redeploy across different
theaters of operation between the
Pacific and Atlantic during crisis the
canal used to be outrightly owned by the
United States for decades between when
they finished building it in 1914 until
1979 when the Carter Administration
agreed to give the land back to Panama
where it was jointly controlled by the
United States and Panama for another 20
years until the start of the New
Millennium on January 1st 2000 when full
sovereign control over the canal was
finally handed over to Panama during
that long period when America directly
owned the canal it proved to be a vital
asset on more than one occasion during
the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 the
United States was able to use the canal
to rapidly redeploy warships from the
Pacific Theater into the Caribbean to
assist with the naval blockades that
Washington enforced on Cuba during the
Korean and Vietnam Wars the United
States Navy used the canal as its
primary artery to transport troops and
equipment to the military front lines in
Asia today even though Washington no
longer owns the canal it remains vital
to the United States suppose any War
breaks out between them and China in
that case the Panama Canal enabled
American warships based on the US East
Coast to rapidly redeploy to the Pacific
and reach the theater of operations 18
days sooner than if they had to travel
the long way around South America if the
invasion ever happens 18 critical days
save could become vital to ensuring the
war’s outcome the canal is also the most
vital asset the Panamanian government
owns because the canal shortcut is vital
to many economic and Military interests
worldwide so if this canal is drying the
Panamanian government would lose a
fortune but how much exactly we will get
to that in the video Water Crisis in the
canal remember how the canal Works an
astounding 52 million gallons of water
are needed for each trip through the
Panama Canal I have noted that ships
traversing the various water level
portions are raised and lowered using
this fresh water this water comes comes
from artificial Lakes namely gon Lake
whose levels are maintained by rainfall
however most rainwater eventually runs
back into the ocean posing a special
challenge this is because the 4.3
million people who live in Panama depend
on the same water sources for drinking
water making it difficult to strike a
balance between the Canal’s needs and
those of the people however the
Panamanian government didn’t see this
problem coming being one of the wetest
Nations on Earth Panama has historically
seen much rainfall along the canal and
the adjacent Lakes nevertheless things
worsened in 2023 particularly in gatun
Lake two factors combined to lower the
water level significantly the first was
a general drop in precipitation which
resulted in a shortfall relative to
average levels the second Factor was the
El Nino weather phenomenon warmer ocean
temperatures during El Nino which
happens every few years disrupt air
circulation patterns this disturbance
attenuates or shifts winds that usually
bring heavy precipitation to Panama and
other tropical Nations
let’s dive more into this to understand
what it means El Nino is a regular
Oceanic and climatic phenomenon that
cyclically repeats every 2 to 7 years in
the Central and East Central Pacific
Ocean during an El Nino event the usual
trade winds that blow from the East to
the West pushing warm water away from
the Americas to the West begin to weaken
pushing warm water back further to the
east towards America’s West Coast this
prevents deeper colder Waters from
upwelling toward the surface this big
patch of warm water on the West Coast
Coast disrupts the area’s usual
atmospheric circulation pattern thus the
winds that usually carry rains into
Panama weaken or fail altogether this
began in
2023 however El Nino has been much more
severe this time than historically
normal Panama’s October 20123 rainfall
was 41% lower than historically usual
this is the lowest level ever recorded
in Panama’s history since recordkeeping
began in the 1950s and October is
usually the rainiest month of the year
for the country overall the 2023 rainy
season failed to materialize with the
government reporting that the year saw
the second lowest rainfall ever measured
in Panama’s History built more than 100
years ago back in the early 20th century
before modern climate change and
climatic effects were well understood
the Panama Canal was never originally
designed with this severe reduction in
range fall in the future ever being in
mind without the rains replenishing the
lakes and the canal still consuming huge
amounts of water from the lakes to
continue operating the Lakes water
levels have been decreasing to
unprecedentedly dangerous levels down to
about 3M lower and yet Panama is still
in the middle of the dry season this
means the lakes are not getting any
water until the next rainy season which
is not even sure Nino events typically
last 9 to 12 months however as the
effects of climate change worsen
worldwide El Nino has sometimes lasted
longer and it can sometimes even last
for years there are speculations that
the ongoing El Nino has a 60% chance of
lasting longer which means that this
year’s rainy season in Panama will also
become disrupted without a doubt the
lakes in the country will continue
struggling to replenish themselves this
ultimately means that the Panama Canal
will keep running out of water from
these lakes and must continue
functioning and that means only one
thing the canal might keep drying up
posing a big problem to the nation and
the world but then what’s the main cause
of this problem we’ve said that El Nino
might be a major cause of this however
isn’t that just looking at a small
portion of a bigger problem
deforestations role in the Panama Canal
Water Crisis the recent water shortage
that has affected the Panama Canal has
highlighted the intricate
interdependencies among our planet
systems although the primary cause of
the shortage is insufficient rainfall
scientists have identified a surprising
Factor exacerbating the issue
deforestation in the Amazon rainforest
even though it is hundreds of kilometers
away the Amazon rainforest significantly
impacts the Panama Canal’s water levels
through a process known as transpiration

IT’S OVER: The Panama Canal Has FINALLY Dried Up
Join this channel to get access to perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMtBZs_dqt4eoooPrAxOX8Q/join

#JamesWebbTelescope #GalaxyDiscovery #ObservableUniverse #Astronomy #SpaceExploration #Cosmology #Astrophysics

⚠️ Copyright Disclaimers • We utilize images and content in accordance with the YouTube Fair utilize copyright standards
• Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act states: “Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright.”
• This film potentially contain certain copyrighted video clips, photos, or photographs that were not specifically permitted to be used by the copyright holder(s), but which we think in good faith are protected by federal law and the fair use doctrine for one or more of the reasons indicated above.