A severe drought has been threatening shipping on the Panama Canal, the waterway responsible for facilitating the movement of 40% of the cargo ship traffic worldwide. Nearly two-thirds of the whole canal’s traffic is headed for — or leaving — the US.
The canal, a linchpin linking the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, is famous for its capability to save time and billions of dollars by offering vessels a shortcut around the tip of South America. The Panama Canal system also depends on the lakes whose...