The effects of climate change continue: the Mexican capital is cut off from water, and the Panama Canal is restricted until the end of April
Mexico City, a city of 21 million people, has seen its main water supply levels drop to historic lows due to a drought that has seen rainfall plummet. Residents who have been hit by a water cut crisis are beginning to vent their frustration with the government.
occupyLocal mediaIn the Acambay neighborhood, 130 kilometers from Mexico City, protesters broke into the offices of the National Water Board, smashing windows and roofs, reports said. In the Azcapotzalco community, residents bring buckets and garbage cans to trucks for water, competing for limited resources. Resident Maribel Gutierrez reported that her home had been without water for more than a month.
As the Americas Quarterly noted last year, 57 percent of Mexico's population lacks access to safe drinking water, making the country one of the world's largest consumers of bottled water.
Mexico City is home to half of Mexico's industrial, commercial, service, and banking institutions. With an average altitude of 2,240 meters, the water supply here is mainly met by pumping water from underground aquifers and reservoirs outside the city. Built in the late 1970s, the Cutzamala Water Supply Project is responsible for the supply of water to 6 million people in the area.
On January 29, 2024, the water storage in the Cutzamala system dropped to 39.7 percent, down from 54 percent in January 2023 and 41 percent in December, government data showed. Due to drier than usual seasons in recent years, local reservoirs have now dried up and will not be able to ease until the rainy season in May. At least half of Mexico City's annual rainfall is brought by the North American monsoon between May and August.
Officials from the National Water Commission have called on residents to change their habits to conserve as much water as possible. They lamented that the combined impact of various factors, such as extreme weather, population expansion, and aging infrastructure, has never been experienced by previous governments.
In the context of global warming, the frequency and intensity of extreme weather such as drought are increasing. Andreas Prein, an atmospheric scientist at the National Science Foundation, warned that Mexico City, as well as major cities around the world, should be prepared for possible flooding during the rapid transition to the rainy season.
And in Panama, south of Mexico and at the southern tip of North America, the golden waterways of the global shipping industry are also plagued by drought.
The Panama Canal transports mainly grain, minerals, machinery and equipment, metal products, chemicals and liquefied petroleum gas, and carries 5% of the world's maritime trade. China is the second largest user of the Panama Canal, accounting for 21.4% of the canal's total cargo volume in fiscal 2022.
Since January 2023, low rainfall in Panama has led to water shortages, and the water levels of the Gatun and Alajuela lakes, which supply the canal, have dropped significantly, restricting the passage of ships. Ships trying to cross the Panama Canal form long queues, sometimes which can take weeks to get passage space, or pay millions of dollars to "cut the line." One shipping expert lamented: "It's just out of control. ”
In October 2023, the average wait time for northbound and southbound vessels at the Panamanian Canal was 5.29 days and 5.58 days, respectively, at an all-time high. By mid-December, the number of crossings had fallen by 36 per cent from the previous year's normal level and by 62 per cent from two years earlier. To this end, the Panama Canal Authority has adopted temporary water-saving measures, including suspending the power generation of the Gatun Lake hydroelectric power plant, recycling water between locks, and allowing small boats to pass through two ships at the same time, depending on the situation.
At the end of January, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development warned that the Red Sea crisis, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Panama Canal drought were disrupting global trade. UNCTAD official Jan Hoffmann said that global shipping costs have soared, and energy and food costs have also been affected, increasing the risk of inflation. These costs will be absorbed by the shipping companies themselves or passed on to consumers.
According to China's National Climate Center, the global moderate-intensity El Niño event peaked in December 2023 and is now in a recession.
The pressure on the Panama Canal has also eased slightly. Since January 16, the number of ships passing through each day has been revised to 24 from 22 previously. Ilya Espino de Marotta, Deputy Director of the Canal Authority, recentlyIn an interviewIt is expected that the current level of 24 vessel restrictions will continue until the end of April and the beginning of the rainy season in early May. In addition, the canal will guarantee a draft of 44-foot standard containers so that customers are not too affected.
The Authority is also considering further measures to alleviate water scarcity, including the development of groundwater sources, maximizing the filling of water supply lakes, introducing drainage from water treatment plants, introducing other rivers into the canal waters, constructing new reservoirs and desalination. The new measures are expected to be launched by the end of this year and early next year.
In 2016, 2019, 2023, every three or four years, the world experienced severe droughts. Last year, Mexico, Panama, Germany, the Mississippi in the United States, and the Amazon in Brazil all experienced varying degrees of drying. Marotta, an official of the Panama Canal Authority, said that not only the entire trade and transportation industry, but also the improvement of people's livelihoods depends more than ever on policymakers in various countries to formulate policies to achieve the goal of zero carbon emissions.
