Save the Cruces Trail and Panama Canal Watershed

Científico prevé una larga sequía que afecta al Canal de Panamá Por  EFE   -  14 Agosto, 2015   - En Ambiente     0 Fotografía cedida por la Autoridad del Canal de Panamá del llenado de la nueva esclusa de la ampliación del Canal de Panamá este lunes 22 de junio, en el sector del océano Pacífico, Ciudad de Panamá. Agencia EFE. Ciudad de Panamá, 14 ago (dpa) – El director del programa de monitoreo físico del Instituto Smithsonian de Investigaciones Tropicales (STRI, por sus siglas en inglés), Steve Paton, previó hoy una larga sequía que tendría severos efectos en Canal de Panamá y en áreas productivas de este país. En medio de una preocupación generalizada por la falta de agua y el descenso del caudal de ríos tributarios de embalses, el investigador reseñó que “es posible que solo hemos iniciado lo que puede ser un período muy largo y seco en Panamá”. Subrayó que el evento climático de este año amenaza con ser especialmente fuerte e...

New strike threat for Panama Canal expansion project   August 10, 2015 6:17 PM     . View photo A merchant ship sails along the Panama Canal, on March 23, 2015 (AFP Photo/Rodrigo Arangua) Panama City (AFP) - Work on an ambitious expansion of the Panama Canal risks grinding to a halt again because of a labor dispute, the waterway's manager said Monday. "The expansion is moving ahead at a good pace, (but) we are worried because a project that is so important for our country could be held hostage," Jorge Quijano, the head of the Panama Canal Authority, told a press conference. The latest strike threat comes from Panama's main union, Suntracs, which has vowed to shut down work on the project to triple the canal's capacity if wage increases are not agreed for the 6,000 workers on the project by Wednesday. The raises would cost $6 million to $7 million, said Quijano. He said the conso...

WORLD A look at Egypt's Suez Canal, from first days to current expansion Published August 05, 2015 Associated Press Facebook   Twitter   Email FILE - In this Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014, file photo, an Egyptian laborer works at the site of the upgrade project of the Suez Canal, in Ismailia, Egypt. Egypt’s Suez Canal officially opens a new, parallel waterway on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015, to allow two-way traffic to cross with virtually no waiting. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)  (The Associated Press) Next CAIRO –   Egypt is to unveil a major expansion of the Suez Canal on Thursday in what the government hopes will be a moment of national pride following years of political unrest. Around 10 percent of the world's trade flows through the waterway, which links the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, allowing vessels to avoid sailing around Africa. The canal is one of Egypt's top foreign currency earners and is seen as a symbol of its modern state. ...

WORLD Panama Canal to temporarily bar biggest ships as drought lowers levels in waterway's lakes Published August 07, 2015 Associated Press Facebook   Twitter   Email PANAMA CITY –   The Panama Canal Authority said Friday that next month it will temporarily limit the size of ships using the waterway because drought has lowered water levels in Gatun and Alhajuela lakes. The restriction, which is the first such hold-down because of weather in nearly 20 years, takes effect Sept. 8 and had been expected by shippers. Only a minority of ships now using the canal will be kept out, the authority said. ADVERTISEMENT Rainfall over the watershed feeding the lakes at the midsection of the waterway has fallen sharply as a result of the El Nino weather phenomenon, lowering the lake levels. Similar problems occurred in 1997-98. The authority said ships will be limited to a maximum draft of 39 feet (11.89 meters) beginning Sept. 8. It added that the limit mi...

Egypt Shows Off $8 Billion Suez Canal Expansion That the World May Not Need by   Ahmed Feteha August 4, 2015 — 12:00 PM COT Ships sit at the new Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt. Photographer: Khaled Desouki/AFP via Getty Images The Suez Canal took 10 years to build and cost thousands of workers their lives. When planners suggested three years for a second one, Egypt’s president balked. “Not three years, just one,” he ordered. Twelve months later, Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi is hosting a party to celebrate the biggest expansion of the canal since it first opened in 1869. For the former army chief seeking to bolster his rule, the symbolism is impossible to miss. Less clear are the economic benefits of what billboards in Cairo and New York’s Times Square dub “Egypt’s gift to the world,” which will raise capacity and shorten the time it takes to sail the 193-kilometer (120-mile) link between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Thursday’s ceremony, to be attended by dignitari...