Persistent drought: Panama declares environmental emergency

The Panamanian government has declared a state of ecological emergency due to the “persistent drought” throughout the country.

According to the Ministry of Environment, the measure is taken because “high temperatures, evaporation and lack of rainfall are the harbingers of the possible El Niño phenomenon, which would reduce water production for human consumption and agricultural activity throughout the country.”

The Panamanian presidential communiqué informing the measure cites as examples the Alhajuela and Gatun reservoirs, which supply water to more than half of the country’s population, and the Interoceanic Waterway, whose water levels “have dropped drastically due to the long dry season.”

In addition, the statement said that the Ministry of Environment’s projections predicts an increase in temperatures and a decrease in precipitation in four climatic regions of the Central American country, which will particularly affect the province of Chiriquí in western Panama, a center of agricultural production.

News Panama, English news Panama, Panama climate

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