The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) reported this week a 29.3% drop in passing ships during Fiscal Year 2024 as a result of the severe drought affecting the interoceanic crossing. A total of 9,944 transits were recorded this year, a significant setback from 14,080 crossings in 2023. A fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30 of the following year.
According to a survey conducted by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Brazil accounted for almost 70% of dengue cases in Latin America and the Caribbean, where some 4.6 million infections were confirmed this year, representing a 237% interannual increase, Agencia Brasil reported. PAHO is the arm of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Americas.
Authorities in the capital of Colombia began rationing water on Thursday as local reservoirs were reported to be nearing alarming levels due to the El Niño phenomenon coupled with the aftermaths of global warming. It has not been ruled out that the severe drought might result as well in an energy crisis hitting some 10 million people who live in Bogotá and the surrounding areas.
Higher shipping costs as the Panama Canal, one of the world’s main maritime trade routes, will further reduce daily ship crossings in the coming months due to a severe drought, the authorities managing the canal.
Argentina's National Meteorological Service (SMN) issued a report stating that the El Niño phenomenon had arrived in the country after water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean remained above those considered normal, thus triggering an atmospheric response to the warming.
Despite the southern hemisphere being still in winter, meteorologists foresee temperatures in the iconic city of Rio de Janeiro might reach 41°C as dry conditions heat up Southeastern Brazil, Agencia Brasil reported Thursday.
The US Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced Thursday the onset of El Niño, a weather phenomenon characterized by a warming of the surface of the equatorial eastern Pacific Ocean that occurs every 2 to 7 years, which can increase the risk of heavy rains and droughts in some parts of the world and lead to record temperatures.
According to an investigation by the Australian Government's scientific agency (CSIRO), the El Niño phenomenon would cause an increase in underwater temperatures that would cause irreversible melting of the shelves and ice sheets, it was reported on Tuesday.
Schools in two cities in the Indonesian part of Borneo island will be closed for a week after smoke from forest fires caused air quality to hit dangerous levels, a local government official said on Sunday.
There's a 70% chance of a recurrence of the El Niño weather event before the end of this year, according to the World Meteorological Organization. The last El Niño occurred in 2015-16 and impacted weather patterns around the world, but researchers say they are not expecting this new one to be as intense as 2015-16.