The drying canal is a warning that short-term economic gains cannot outrun long-term environmental realities.
In 1989, as American troops descended on Panama to oust Manuel Noriega, Washington justified its intervention by citing the need to protect the Panama Canal. The 51-mile waterway, a lifeline of global trade and a pillar of U.S. strategic influence, was too important to be left in the hands of an unpredictable strongman. Three decades later, the canal faces an even graver threat - not from a dictator, but from a force that Donald Trump has spent years dismissing: climate change.
Even as Trump continues to fume on ‘taking over’ the Panama Canal, the 51-mile waterway, which handles 6 percent of global maritime trade, faces the real danger of drying up. Deforestation and erratic rainfall have left its freshwater reservoirs, especially Gatun Lake, at historic lows. In 2023, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) was forced to cut daily vessel transits from 36 to 24, impose weight restrictions, and raise transit fees. The consequences for global trade are severe: higher shipping costs, supply chain disruptions and longer transit times.
For the United States, the stakes are particularly high as roughly 70 percent of all goods passing through the canal are bound for or originate from American ports. The shortcut the canal provides is invaluable: a container ship carrying goods from China to New York can save two weeks of travel time by bypassing the treacherous route around Cape Horn. A drying canal means longer transit times, higher costs, and disruptions to industries that rely on just-in-time supply chains. Electronics, raw materials, and foodstuffs will become more expensive, triggering inflationary pressures at a time when the global economy is still recovering from pandemic shocks.
The canal has always been central to U.S. economic and geopolitical power. Since its completion in 1914, it has underpinned American global trade dominance, allowing goods and energy to flow efficiently between the Atlantic and Pacific. The United States controlled the canal until 1999, when it handed over operations to Panama under the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. That transition was seen as a landmark moment for Latin America—an assertion of sovereignty after nearly a century of American control. But even under Panamanian management, Washington has remained deeply invested in the canal’s operations, seeing it as critical to both commerce and security.
The crisis in Panama is not happening in a vacuum. The immediate cause of the canal’s crisis is climate change. Scientists have long warned that deforestation in the Amazon - the planet’s ‘air conditioning system’ - is disrupting rainfall patterns across Latin America, including Panama. The Amazon rainforest generates massive amounts of moisture, regulating climate systems that extend far beyond its borders. But rampant deforestation, driven by agriculture and logging, has transformed the rainforest from a carbon sink into a carbon emitter. In 2023, the Amazon experienced its worst drought in recorded history, intensifying El Niño weather patterns and worsening the dry conditions in Panama. Less rain means less water for the canal, forcing difficult trade-offs between vessel capacity and economic efficiency.
Some have proposed engineering solutions like pumping seawater into Gatun Lake or diverting rivers, but these measures carry steep environmental and social costs. They risk contaminating freshwater supplies and displacing local communities. The only sustainable answer lies in reducing emissions and curbing deforestation. Yet Trump’s approach to climate policy remains unchanged. During his presidency, he rolled back environmental protections, withdrew from the Paris Agreement, and championed fossil fuel expansion. His 2024 campaign rhetoric has continued in the same vein, attacking climate policies as job-killers while dismissing global warming as a hoax.
Trump’s insistence on prioritizing short-term economic gains over long-term sustainability could prove costly. The drying canal is not just an environmental concern but a national security risk. If its decline accelerates, alternative trade routes will emerge. China, already the second-largest user of the canal, has been expanding its Arctic shipping ambitions as melting ice opens new passageways. A weakened Panama Canal could push more trade toward China’s Belt and Road Initiative, undermining American influence in Latin America.
The canal’s plight underscores an inconvenient reality: climate change is no longer a distant threat but an immediate economic disruptor. Droughts, extreme weather, and shifting environmental conditions will continue to reshape global trade. Sensible policymaking would recognize the need for climate adaptation and international cooperation. Trump’s brand of populist denialism, however, offers no solutions, only a dangerous illusion that America can insulate itself from the consequences of a warming planet. The drying Panama Canal should serve as a warning. If the world’s largest economy cannot reconcile economic policy with environmental responsibility, the costs will be measured not just in rising shipping fees, but in economic instability and lost global influence.
As Trump rallies his base with promises of economic revival and America’s resurgence, his vision remains dangerously shortsighted. The forces shaping the 21st-century economy - climate instability, shifting supply chains, and geopolitical competition - require leadership that sees beyond the next election cycle. Will America navigate these turbulent waters, or will it be left adrift is the question.
(The author is an educationalist. Views personal.)
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