Panama Canal records 5th driest year in 7 decades

The Panama Canal’s watershed experienced its fifth driest year of the last seven decades in 2019, officials said this week, underscoring warnings that climate change poses a major challenge to the recently expanded waterway, a major driver of the Central American nation’s economy.

The watershed is a network of rivers and creeks covering about 1,280 square miles (3,300 square kilometers).

This week’s annual report from the Canal Authority said that the watershed received 84.6 inches (2,149 millimeters) of precipitation last year, about 20% below the historic average of 106.1 inches (2,695 millimeters).

Steven Paton of the Smithsonian Institution’s Tropical Research Institute told The Associated Press that since 2000, the watershed has seen the driest three-year stretch on record as well as eight of the 10 biggest storms.

The report came days after the Central American nation marked 20 years since the U.S. handover of the canal to Panamanian control and after canal administrator Ricaurte Vásquez warned of threats due to climate change.

Read more via AP