Why Does The Panama Canal Have Lock?

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal locks are a series of water “steps” which lift ships 85 feet above sea level, and then lower them back down to the ocean at the other end of the canal.

The Panama Canal is a kind of water “stairway” that crosses the isthmus of Panama and connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

A series of locks, or water-filled chambers, raise and lower ship enters a lock from the Atlantic side, huge gates close behind it and water is let in.  The ship is raised till it floats at the same level as the next-higher lock.  Then the gates are opened and the ship is pulled to the next locks, and so on.

The licks raise the ship a 28-foot step at a time up to 85 feet above sea level.  When the ship reaches the upper lock, it sails across a large lake, which supplies water for the locks.  Locks on the Pacific side lower the ship to sea level. 

Before this shortcut was built, ships had to sail around the tip of South America, a journey of thousands of miles.  A ship can pass through the 50-mile canal in just hours, instead of taking many days for the longer route.–Dick Rogers

US pledges $40 Million to save Marine ecosystem of 6 Nations - 1

US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenny announces yesterday during the second Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) Senior Official’s Meeting in Manila that the US government pledged nearly $40 million is support of the international effort by six nations and their partners to save the Coral Triangle, the world’s greatest expanse of mangrove, coral reef and fish biodiversity. The Coral Triangle is under threat from pollution, unsustainable fishing practices, and climate change.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Department of State will provide these new funds over five years to the CTI, a consortium formed to promote sustainable fisheries and coastal resource management programs in East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and the Solomon Islands. The governments of these countries have come together in a striking demonstration of political will and international cooperation .

The CTI seeks to protect six million square kilometers of ocean and coasts, an area that has been called the “Amazon of the Seas” for its biodiversity. The Coral Triangle, where the Indian and Pacific oceans meet, is home to 30% of the world’[s coral reefs and represents 75% of the known coral species.