Severe drought forces Panama Canal to limit ship traffic

The Panama Canal is cutting back the number of ships allowed through because a lack of rain is drying up the water they need to operate.

The Panama Canal is in trouble. Because of the weather pattern known as El Niño, the region is facing a very bad drought. There just isn't enough rain to keep the water levels where they need to be. The canal works like a giant water elevator. To lift ships up and over the land, it uses massive amounts of water from nearby lakes. When there is no rain, the water levels in those lakes drop. If the water gets too low, the big ships can't get through without hitting the bottom. To deal with this, officials are cutting down the number of ships that can travel through the canal each day. This i…