Story submitted by Eric Worrall. The Guardian, a green UK daily newspaper, has published a claim that climate change will disrupt shipping in the Panama Canal, preventing children in America from receiving their Chinese manufactured toys.
According to The Guardian;
“As extreme weather events create periods of flood and drought, they threaten the consistent water supply that the canal needs to operate.”
Panama is apparently suffering a drought, which is limiting the supply of fresh water from Gatun Lake and Alajuela Lake, water which is required to operate the canal.
“That could increase shipping times and costs of everything from Christmas toys and electronics moving from China to New York to midwest corn and wheat bound for the west coast of South America.
It’s too soon to know how exactly more extreme weather will affect canal operations. But while industries that do business through the canal are taking a wait-and-see approach, the Panama Canal Authority is paying close attention to models that suggest future climate trends.”
Seriously folks – how can we continue to doubt Mann made global warming, when the Guardian has so clearly demonstrated that if we don’t switch to driving electric cars, our children will miss out on their toys at Christmas?
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The water can also be used for a second ship going the other way. And, it seems that the “dry season” water shortfall is something known about for years, from Wikipedia entry on the Panama Canal:
Gatun Lake is filled with rainwater, and the lake accumulates excess water during wet months. The water is lost to the oceans at a rate of 101,000 m3 (26,700,000 US gal; 22,200,000 imp gal) per downward lock cycle. Since a ship will have to go upward to Gatun Lake first and then descend, a single passing will cost double the amount; but the same waterflow cycle can be used for another ship passing in the opposite direction. The ship’s submerged volume is not relevant to this amount of water. During the dry season, when there is less rainfall, there is also a shortfall of water in Gatun Lake.
Apparently, the Canal Authority isn’t as worried about this as The Guardian, since there’s no mention of drought related issues on their website or news releases that I could find. http://www.pancanal.com/eng/pr/press-releases/
In fact, all the 2014 press releases seem to be about expansion. And in this notice, they are talking about adding a city for drinking water services to their list of cities already served.
The canal watershed maintains the reserve of this valuable natural resource. As well as being the principal source of water required for vessel transits, the canal watershed provides 95% of the drinking water for the inhabitants of the cities of Colon, Panama, San Miguelito and in the near future, Chorrera.
Me thinks the Guardian doth protest too much.
-Anthony
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@goldminor, who wrote –
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/08/16/claim-climate-change-will-disrupt-the-panama-canal/#comment-1710852
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Sorry. Shoulda’ put in a winky or /sarc on my dig at the warmist alarmists, but this post followed Willis’ post so closely, I didn’t think it was necessary.
oh good grief….order it all on Alibaba and have it sent FedEx……….
markstoval says: “Can anyone be as worried about climate change as the gloom&doom The Guardian???”
In fact, due to having invested all its credibility in its alarmist prognostications, the Guardian is becoming progressively more and more worried about the pronounced lack of climate change – anthropogenic or otherwise.
Wonderful. The story has come full circle. When the Panama Canal was still under construction, there were scare stories in the press that the “joining of the Pacific” (cold) to the Atlantic/Caribbean (warm!) would disrupt the Gulf Stream, plunging Europe into a New Ice Age. See, for instance, this “proto-science fiction novel”:
http://io9.com/5259366/10-scariest-eco-catastrophes-from-early-science-fiction
Lous Pope Gratacap’s The Evacuation of England: The Twist in the Gulf Stream (1908): Despite geologists’ warnings that the Panam Canal will cvause the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to merge, the Canal is finished. (Canal enthusiast Teddy Roosevelt is one of the book’s characters.) Sure enough, entire countries must be evacuated because of climate changes: “The shelterihng pwer of the Gulf Strean was removed from Great Britain, and the forst of the Arcic world, expanded with instantanous certainty, spreading the shroud of its killing cold over the same latitudes in Europe that for ages had slept beneath its spell in America.” The novel’s rather dripy protagonist, a businessman named Leacraft, is an eyewitness.
The Evacuation of England isn’t thrilling. As E.F. Bleiler notes, “Leacraft’s insipid romance is buried amid overlong didactic digressions.”
Talk about the Polar Vortex…
Here is a sample from their press releases for 2014.
January
Panama Canal: Talks Continue on New Locks Project
Panama Canal, GUPC and Zurich American to Continue Talks on New Locks Project
GUPC Announcement of Suspension Goes Against Third Set of Locks Contract
Panama Canal Proposal to Jointly Contribute $283 Million to New Locks Project
Panama Canal Reiterates to the International Maritime Community its Commitment to the Expansion
ACP Reaffirms Its Commitment to Panama Canal Expansion
May
Panama Canal To Charter Post-Panamax Ship for Training in New Locks
Four New Lock Gates for Panama Canal Expansion Set Sail from Italy
August
CECH Expresses Interest on Panama Canal Future Projects
ACP and New Locks Contractor Incorporate Agreement to Complete Expansion
@RACOOK 8:37.
Thanks for the numbers.
Now the counter meme, we are doomed, in just 8 years the Panama Canal will be frozen.
Caution; conclusion reached using IPCC Team ™ science.
Like Richard Courtney I too am waiting to see how long it takes the Easily Alarmed Ones to start emoting about this rapidly freezing world.
It’s good to know that the UK Guardian’s firm commitment to unethical tabloid journalism hasn’t been affected by global warming.
Gatun Lake is a MAN-MADE lake so why is the Guardian so worried about it? They acknowledge the cause of the drought.
Yet can’t resist putting climate change in the headline.
Here is another headline.
Since the Guardian likes alarming stories here is another.
To state the obvious, lower the lock level by pumping the water uphill. No net water flow.
Alternatively, shipping all these Chinese toys is making global-warming worse. Time for a Christmas-tax?
What’s to worry? The rising sea level will lessen the need for water.
Well the Panama Canal has a whole lot more to worry about, than water shortages.
If they can ever get the 5,000 / 50,000 or how many it is Union workers back to work, to finish the brand new wider canal, that they are doing, then there will be NO locks operated by Gatun Lake water, untouched by human hands.
There will be mechanical motor driven lock gates, instead of the good old water powered ones, that are there now. Those electric motors, could also operate pumps to pump water up over the mountains, from the oceans, so they won’t need water from Gatun Lake.
But I wouldn’t bet on those motor powered lock gates, to keep on operating for 100 years, like the water powered ones have. Some Micro$oft Windows glitch, will probably crash the whole thing, and open all the lock gates together, at the same time. Well that will drain the whole damn lake, out to the oceans, anyway.
Maybe, it’s better to invest in the Nicaragua sea level canal instead.
Steve D says:
August 16, 2014 at 8:20 pm
.
Is there anything that “global warming” CAN’T do??
Climate change is like Allah; omnipotent, omniscient, but definitely not omnibenevolent.
But Allah is Merciful — providing you submit completely (meaning of ‘Islam’). Otherwise, your ass is grass.
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