The location of panama

Introduction

The location of panama

Panama lies at the Southern end of North America. The panama and the land North to it to Mexico’² border make up the part of the North America continent called Central America.

Panama is a narrow country that curves from the West to the east. The Atlantic Ocean lies to the North, the Pacific Ocean to the south, Colombia to the East, and Costa Rica to the West.

Panama forms a natural isthmus bridge that joins the Atlantic Ocean in the North with the Pacific Ocean in the South. Thus Panama has worldwide importance as a transportation centre.

Panama encompasses approximately 77082 square kilometres, is 772 kilometres in length, and is between 60 and 177 Kilometres in width.

Climate of Panama

Panama has a tropical temperature around 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit (about 25-30 degrees Celsius). The climate is less tropical at higher elevations. In mountain areas the average annual temperature ranges from 50-66f (10-19c).

There are two seasons: the dry season with a bright sun from December to April and rainy season from October to November. Humidity is always high at about 80 percent.

Why was the canal built?

The Panama Canal was built in order to avoid travelling around South America, reducing voyages by thousands of miles and many days.

The canal was also built in part as military reasons, to give the U.S navy rapid access to both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. However since world war two the canal has been considered vulnerable to attack. Therefore the canal was considered less valuable as a military asset.

The other purpose of building the canal for American was to link its east and west coasts and expand trade.

How man has modified the drainage basin

In 1903, the United States signed the original Panama Canal treaty, to build and operate a canal connecting the Pacific Ocean with the Caribbean.

The initial plan was to build a sea level Canal, which had been changed into a canal with locks. This presented various problems therefore a huge dam, which would hold the water coming down from the hills was decides to be built on Gamboa.

First the excavation of the Culebra Cut was carried out. Then Gatun dam was built damming a major river and adjoining the locks to flood the river basin and form the world’² largest artificial lake (Lake Gatun).

Lake Gatun provides all of the fresh water to run the locks needed to move each ship. The canal is made in a series of locks, three on each side of lake Gatun.

The tidal range of the Pacific is 20 feet whereas the Atlantic range is only about 1 foot. The lock series elevates or lowers the Marine traffic along the waterway to compensate for the different levels.

Madden dam was built upstream of lake Gatun to control the flow of water into Gatun Lake and generate electricity. (See fig…next page)

How the Canal works

The Panama Canal extends approximately 50 miles from Panama City on the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea.

To travel from the Atlantic to the pacific a ship enters a 7 mile dredged channel in Limon Bay.

As soon as the canal authorities send out a canal pilot to take the vessel through the locks the ship proceeds for a distance of 11.5 miles ...

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Madden dam was built upstream of lake Gatun to control the flow of water into Gatun Lake and generate electricity. (See fig…next page)

How the Canal works

The Panama Canal extends approximately 50 miles from Panama City on the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea.

To travel from the Atlantic to the pacific a ship enters a 7 mile dredged channel in Limon Bay.

As soon as the canal authorities send out a canal pilot to take the vessel through the locks the ship proceeds for a distance of 11.5 miles to the Gatun locks.

Electric locomotives called mules guide the ship through three series locks. These locks raise the ship 26 metres to Gatun Lake. Gravity adjusts the water level between the locks. The ship continues through a channel in Gatun Lake for 32 miles to Gamboa, where the Gaillared cut begins and ends at the locks Pedro Miguel locks.

The Pedro Miguel locks lower the ship 9.4 meters to a lake, which then takes it to the Miraflore locks. This lowers the ship 16metres to sea level at the canals pacific terminus in the bay of panama.

Finally the canal carries the ship to the harbour where the canal pilot leaves the vessel.

The raising and lowering process is reversed for a ship from the Pacific.(see fig…next page on how the canal works)

How can the Panama Canal affect the quality of life of Panamanians?

By the time the Canal project was completed, its economic impact had created a new middle class.

Most people’² standard of living was improved. Businesses were attracted to the area providing new job opportunities and improved quality of life. On the other hand new forms of discrimination occurred.

Panamanian society had become segregated not only by class but also by race and national origin.

Wealthy Panamanians live in large houses built in modern architectural style, or in large luxury apartments. Most middle class people have smaller houses or apartments. On the other hand Panama’² poor live in shacks or run- down apartments.

How does Panama generate money for the people of Panama?

‘The Panama Canal has shaped Panama’² economic development.’ First the influx of workers who built and later maintained the canal, and the large United States civilian and military presence associated with the canal had been a source of wealth in the past for Panamanians.

The Panama Canal authority operates the canal currently. Thousands of ships use the Canal each year to pass from one Ocean to the other. The canal commission collects tolls from ships that use the canal. Annual toll collection at Panama Canal is $578,358,220 (6% of GDP). The Panama Canal also provides jobs for many Panamanians. Panamanians form more than 90 percent of the Canal’² corporation. The jobs include positions related to the operation and maintenance of the canal. They also include jobs in shops and other businesses that exist because of the economic activity generated by the canal.

Panama canal cruises have become one of the most popular ways to visit the Panama Canal. Millions of visitors who come to the Panama Canal cruises generate quiet a lot of money.

Rapid urbanisation affecting the city of panama

Since the 1950’² Panama has been in the midst if massive urban expansion. Urban population continued to increase 2.5 percent per year.

Most of the urban expansion was concentrated in slum tenements and, since 1950, in squatter settlements around the major cities. In 1958 there were 11 identifiable slum or squatter settlements housing 18,000 people in the Panama City. There are now more than 34 slum communities and their population has increased more than five-fold.

Most people live below the poverty line. They lack access to adequate sanitation services and electricity.

Slum dwellers live in collapsed building, in those sections of the building that remained standing. Some of them settle on the outskirts of the city.

A substantial portion of the squatters settled on government land, and there were a numerous programs to permit them to purchase their housing sites. The government allocated funds for low-income housing projects, and there were efforts to upgrade the amenities available to the squatters. By the 1080’², about 96% of the urban population had access to portable water and nearly 70% had electricity.

The unplanned chaotic Panama City urbanisation has resulted in deforestation around the Panama Canal watershed, which could affect future canal operations.

The consequence of Deforestation in Panama

Deforestation of the watershed area that feeds the Panama Canal threatens panama’² chief source of income, the Panama Canal. Panama’² deforestation rate of 64,000 hectares a year is due to legal and illegal logging, mining operations, and the clearing of forest for cattle ranches and subsistence farming.

Every ship that transits the canal requires 52 million gallons of water, which is then lost to the sea. Lake Gatun supplies the water for the operation of the canal. The rain forests supply continuous source of fresh water to the lake. The water in the canal will be drained slowly away if the rainforests no longer exist to produce water to run in to the Lake Gatun the Lake could no longer provide enough water to run the locks. Eventually this would cause the canal to either shut down or be reworked, which would raise the cost of using the canal significantly. As it is now Panamanians form more than 90% of the Canal’² workforce. Should the canal go dry all of those jobs will disappear. If the Panama Canal had to close the economic effect on the Republic of panama would be catastrophic. It would also affect the world economy by forcing ships lengthen their journey by 8,000 miles.

Fresh drinking water loss, which only comes from Lake Gatun, is another major issue for more than 700,000 people who live in Panama City.

Deforestation also endangers thousand of species, which exist only in panama rich biodiversity.

What has been happening to the amount of water in the lakes

Lake Gatun and Madden reservoir are man-made reservoirs specifically created for the purpose of operating the canal.

Lake Madden and Gatun are slowly drying up because of the destruction of tropical rain forest. Deforestation increases erosion within the watershed, leading to greater levels of siltation in Watershed Rivers and lakes. This decreases storage capacity. So far lake madden has lost 5 of its water storage capacity. If the destruction continues like this, there will not be enough water to operate the canal.

Solutions

The government has given urgent priority to the protection of existing forest cover and extensive reforestation throughout the canal watershed.

Several sustainable development projects have been organised including one by the national institute for natural resources, which trains farmers to use their land more efficiently so that they do not cut the surrounding forests.

Darien national park was established in 1980 to protect one third of the watershed area. The region has potential for expanded ecotourism and for ecologically broad scientific research.

The government has provided with training and basic equipment for effective forest (park) protection and enforcement. Environment education is undertaken in every community neighbouring the watershed area.

The government is also establishing an agro forestry programme in the area for habitat restoration using native plants and traditional crops.

Conflict of interest in the watershed area

There is conflict of interest between some groups of people in what happens to the watershed area.

The watershed environment is under continued and increasing pressure. The people do what they can to survive and the government has not tried to help the people work together to help sole their problems.

The farmers cut down and burn trees in order to make room to grow crops and feed their families. The squatters need a place to stay and so do the same.

The Government wants to preserve the rainforest in order to save the canal therefore they have placed limits on the amount of land farmers could clear and required them to obtain permits before cutting trees in the watershed area however the people don’t respect the Government’² restriction. They have learned to be self-interested and the Government is seen as interference.

The Government did not set a good example by allowing illegal logging companies to cut own trees for timber to be sold for export, bringing millions of dollars.

The Government and the NGOs disagree on the seriousness of the depletion of the rainforests surrounding the Canal. The NGOs in panama want to make the government take more responsibility for the future of the Canal.

Conclusion

Is the Panama Canal sustainable?

The Panama Canal is self-sufficient and sustainable. The dam at Gatun Lake generates the electricity to run all the motors, which operate the canal as well as the locomotives in charge o towing the ships through the Canal. The water level between the locks is adjusted be gravity with no use of external force. The rainfall of the area compensates for the loss of the 52 million gallons of fresh water consumed during each crossing.

However the activities and development within the watershed area have not been sustainable. The forest has been over-exploited by the farmers, settlers and logging companies. The farmers practice subsistance farming clearing land for thousands of small farms and for cattle ranching. Clearing forests affects the weather and the Panama Canal, which rely on water that has already been through the forest water cycle. Therefore the Government needs to take serious measures to preserve the forest within the watershed area. It is very important for the Government to try to work together with people to solve their problems providing an alternative choice so that they would not practice illegal logging or forest clearance. This will save the future of the Panama Canal, the rich biodiversity and the drinking water for the sake of Panamanians.