Traffic jam in Panama canal as drought leaves 200 ships stranded | GMA

 

American consumers oh they can soon see

higher prices on many of the things we

buy due in part to major shipping delays

over at the Panama Canal ABC's Alexis

christopherus is here now to explain

that backlog good morning Alexis good

morning Geo this is fresh evidence of

the impact climate change is having on

global business and trade the Panama

Canal is one of the world's most

important trading routes and it's in

desperate need of water the canal is

going through its driest spell in more

than a century as El Nino brings higher

temperatures and less rain the drought

is squeezing Global Supply chains and

that could mean higher prices and less

choice for consumers just in time for

the holidays the lack of rain is forcing

the waterways authorities to reduce the

number of ships passing through the

canal those that do must carry less

cargo to conserve water the result a

major traffic jam more than 200 ships

are currently waiting to cross the canal

much more than the usual 90 vessels and

the wait time to get get through now up

to three weeks that's delaying tens of

billions of dollars in Goods everything

from oil and gas to furniture and

appliances 40 percent of all U.S

container traffic flows through the

Panama Canal if the drought and the

delays continue experts tell us they

could spark another surge in inflation

just as consumer prices are starting to

cool guys no drought for those prices

flowing through to Consumers there

Alexis thank you very much

hi everyone George Stephanopoulos here

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#TrafficJam #PanamaCanal #Drought

American consumers could soon see higher prices on many of the things we buy due in part to major shipping delays at the Panama Canal. #TrafficJam #PanamaCanal #Drought #GMA