"Spring" in my step...

Spring is in the air here in "The Rouge" and the weather has been as predictable as the price of oil. Monday it was 80 degrees (F) and the high today was 58 degrees (F) at midnight. The daytime high was in the 40's and the wind had a slight chill. Its been that way for weather lately and it makes for wardrobe choice for the day very difficult. However, spring truely is around the corner. The hardwoods down here are sprouting their new leaves, wildflowers are blooming, and many of the migratory birds that were around have started to migrate back north. So all of your northern folks be ready, warmth and spring time is right around the corner!

Up a Canal without any Water

The Panama Canal is a modern human marvel that was finished by US in 1914. It is a vital node in world trade, with nearly 4 percent of all commerce in goods passing through the locks in a given year. As more manufactured flood from overseas, the need for bigger, more efficient ships has been met with a roadblock.

The Panama Canal, built in the early part of last century, simply cannot accommodate these super ships. Earlier this year, Panama began an renovation of the canal by building bigger and deeper locks to accommodate these larger ships. But, it appears that mother nature may have a trump card before all is said and done. The canals links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across Panama. But the system depends on gravity, meaning that the locks used to raise and lower ships, depend on freshwater lakes at higher elevations to supply the water needed. The locks use between 50-55 million gallons of freshwater to transit one ship from the Atlantic to the Pacific and uses roughly 3 times more water than the city of Los Angeles on a given day.

If scientists are correct, the influence of climate change on El Nino could affect the amount of rainfall that occurs in these lakes catchment area, drastically lowering the amount of available water. El Nino's typically bring drought to the area creating shortages of water needed for the canal. The new locks however, will use a new system that recycles roughly 60% of the water used for each lock, reducing the total consumption of water to lift or lower a ship. But if El Nino's do occur at greater and more prolonged intervals (as predicted) ships really could be up a canal without any water...