4 ms·

Because at least intuitively the panama canal seems to rely on seawater, which would seem like it is unaffected by drought, and only positively effected by sea

Because at least intuitively the panama canal seems to rely on seawater, which would seem like it is unaffected by drought, and only positively effected by sea level rise.

klyrs 3y ago
> Canal locks at each end lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial freshwater lake 26 meters (85 ft) above sea level, created by damming up the Chagres River and Lake Alajuela to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal, and then lower the ships at the other end. An average of 200,000,000 L (52,000,000 US gal) of fresh water are used in a single passing of a ship. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal
mongol 3y ago
No the Panama canal passes through freshwater, and you cannot let seawater enter for ecological reasons.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
fencepost 3y ago
Keep in mind that water flows downhill free but you have to pay for pumping to go uphill. Climate change CAN impact availability of fresh water in the form of rain since warm air holds more moisture, but that's double edged - there's more evaporation from freshwater bodies as well, and the rain can be unpredictable and dangerous since some will be in the form of major storms dumping water nobody's equipped to store along with all the other storm damage.
HnUser12 3y ago
Someone else linked this video and definitely helped me understand better https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh79YSCC8mM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh79YSCC8mM
- ProfessorLayton 3y ago
  I know the video covered that it has been tried before, but it seems like the long term solution would be to actually excavate and connect the seas. We have much better excavation technology, and would allow for much, much higher throughput than this elaborate contraption subject to climate change.
  - AlotOfReading 3y ago
    The seas aren't at the same elevation. The Pacific is a couple dozen cm higher than the Atlantic Coast, and the amount varies. Cutting the peninsula would turn into a disaster pretty quickly, even with sci fi excavation technology.
    - jacquesm 3y ago
      I'm not so sure that it would make such a huge difference that it would be an immediate disaster, across that kind of distance there are plenty of examples of more elevation, what you would have is a river flowing one way instead of two rivers flowing towards the see. Not unlike any other island that the sea flows around. Or is there something in particular that would make this connection into a disaster area if that flow got started? The length of the canal is about 75 km, a few dozen cm across that distance would be on the order of 0.04 mm / meter, which is barely enough to make water flow in a particular direction.
      - AlotOfReading 3y ago
        It'd be highly susceptible to erosion, and the channel wouldn't be stable. It'd either expand gradually over time with all sorts of ecological ramifications, or deposition would clog the channel constantly. Who knows, might do both depending on seasonal factors? Imagine the damage a hurricane might do to those massive cliffs, for example.
        jacquesm 3y ago
        That all sounds quite different from an immediate disaster. Those things apply to any river and those typically have a slope well in excess of that. Not that I would argue in favor of cutting a channel between the two but it doesn't sound as though this is an insurmountable problem, basically well within the elevation difference that even a single minor lock would be able to handle. You might even have to add a pumping system to the lock to ensure that it would fill up fast enough.
jacquesm 3y ago
It's mostly above sea level.

Because at least intuitively the panama canal seems to rely on seawater, which would seem like it is unaffected by drought, and only positively effected by sea level rise.

klyrs 3y ago

> Canal locks at each end lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial freshwater lake 26 meters (85 ft) above sea level, created by damming up the Chagres River and Lake Alajuela to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal, and then lower the ships at the other end. An average of 200,000,000 L (52,000,000 US gal) of fresh water are used in a single passing of a ship. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal

mongol 3y ago

No the Panama canal passes through freshwater, and you cannot let seawater enter for ecological reasons.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

fencepost 3y ago

Keep in mind that water flows downhill free but you have to pay for pumping to go uphill. Climate change CAN impact availability of fresh water in the form of rain since warm air holds more moisture, but that's double edged - there's more evaporation from freshwater bodies as well, and the rain can be unpredictable and dangerous since some will be in the form of major storms dumping water nobody's equipped to store along with all the other storm damage.

HnUser12 3y ago

Someone else linked this video and definitely helped me understand better https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh79YSCC8mM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh79YSCC8mM

ProfessorLayton 3y ago
I know the video covered that it has been tried before, but it seems like the long term solution would be to actually excavate and connect the seas. We have much better excavation technology, and would allow for much, much higher throughput than this elaborate contraption subject to climate change.
- AlotOfReading 3y ago
  The seas aren't at the same elevation. The Pacific is a couple dozen cm higher than the Atlantic Coast, and the amount varies. Cutting the peninsula would turn into a disaster pretty quickly, even with sci fi excavation technology.
  - jacquesm 3y ago
    I'm not so sure that it would make such a huge difference that it would be an immediate disaster, across that kind of distance there are plenty of examples of more elevation, what you would have is a river flowing one way instead of two rivers flowing towards the see. Not unlike any other island that the sea flows around. Or is there something in particular that would make this connection into a disaster area if that flow got started? The length of the canal is about 75 km, a few dozen cm across that distance would be on the order of 0.04 mm / meter, which is barely enough to make water flow in a particular direction.
    - AlotOfReading 3y ago
      It'd be highly susceptible to erosion, and the channel wouldn't be stable. It'd either expand gradually over time with all sorts of ecological ramifications, or deposition would clog the channel constantly. Who knows, might do both depending on seasonal factors? Imagine the damage a hurricane might do to those massive cliffs, for example.
      - jacquesm 3y ago
        That all sounds quite different from an immediate disaster. Those things apply to any river and those typically have a slope well in excess of that. Not that I would argue in favor of cutting a channel between the two but it doesn't sound as though this is an insurmountable problem, basically well within the elevation difference that even a single minor lock would be able to handle. You might even have to add a pumping system to the lock to ensure that it would fill up fast enough.

jacquesm 3y ago

It's mostly above sea level.