Ari Shapiro

Digna Benite and a younger man named Oligario Cedeno help us climb in, and we pull away from the shore. The boat pulls over to the edge of the Rio Indio and we climb up some steep stairs that are basically carved into the mud bank. Oligario, what are you showing us? Here I'm showing you where the dam would be, he says. The Rio Indio Dam.

It doesn't exist yet, but authorities intend to start building it in just a couple years. Panama has been looking for solutions to a long-term problem. Every time a ship passes through the Panama Canal, more than 50 million gallons of fresh water from Lake Gatun pour out into the ocean. Nobody ever thought Panama could run out of water. It is one of the rainiest countries in the world.

It doesn't exist yet, but authorities intend to start building it in just a couple years. Panama has been looking for solutions to a long-term problem. Every time a ship passes through the Panama Canal, more than 50 million gallons of fresh water from Lake Gatun pour out into the ocean. Nobody ever thought Panama could run out of water. It is one of the rainiest countries in the world.

It doesn't exist yet, but authorities intend to start building it in just a couple years. Panama has been looking for solutions to a long-term problem. Every time a ship passes through the Panama Canal, more than 50 million gallons of fresh water from Lake Gatun pour out into the ocean. Nobody ever thought Panama could run out of water. It is one of the rainiest countries in the world.

But a couple years ago, a drought got so bad that the canal had to reduce traffic by more than a third, which had a huge impact on global shipping. Consider this. The Panama Canal needs more water, and authorities have decided to get it by building a dam in a spot that would displace Digna, Olegario, and more than 2,000 other people. From NPR, I'm Ari Shapiro.

But a couple years ago, a drought got so bad that the canal had to reduce traffic by more than a third, which had a huge impact on global shipping. Consider this. The Panama Canal needs more water, and authorities have decided to get it by building a dam in a spot that would displace Digna, Olegario, and more than 2,000 other people. From NPR, I'm Ari Shapiro.

But a couple years ago, a drought got so bad that the canal had to reduce traffic by more than a third, which had a huge impact on global shipping. Consider this. The Panama Canal needs more water, and authorities have decided to get it by building a dam in a spot that would displace Digna, Olegario, and more than 2,000 other people. From NPR, I'm Ari Shapiro.

It's Consider This from NPR. In a wide grassy field in rural Panama, Digna Benite looks out at the spot where the Panama Canal Authority plans to build a new dam. We stand in the shade of a wild coffee tree, the fragrance like honeysuckle, wafting off branches full of white blossoms. Senora Digna, when you see this place and you think about what might happen here, what goes through your head?

It's Consider This from NPR. In a wide grassy field in rural Panama, Digna Benite looks out at the spot where the Panama Canal Authority plans to build a new dam. We stand in the shade of a wild coffee tree, the fragrance like honeysuckle, wafting off branches full of white blossoms. Senora Digna, when you see this place and you think about what might happen here, what goes through your head?

It's Consider This from NPR. In a wide grassy field in rural Panama, Digna Benite looks out at the spot where the Panama Canal Authority plans to build a new dam. We stand in the shade of a wild coffee tree, the fragrance like honeysuckle, wafting off branches full of white blossoms. Senora Digna, when you see this place and you think about what might happen here, what goes through your head?

It would be simplistic to say this problem is all because of climate change. Climate scientists say the data point to a more complicated reality. At the shore of another body of water, tropical birds squabble in the trees at the edge of the jungle. Lake Gatun is a freshwater reservoir created by the construction of another dam more than a century ago during the creation of the Panama Canal.

It would be simplistic to say this problem is all because of climate change. Climate scientists say the data point to a more complicated reality. At the shore of another body of water, tropical birds squabble in the trees at the edge of the jungle. Lake Gatun is a freshwater reservoir created by the construction of another dam more than a century ago during the creation of the Panama Canal.

It would be simplistic to say this problem is all because of climate change. Climate scientists say the data point to a more complicated reality. At the shore of another body of water, tropical birds squabble in the trees at the edge of the jungle. Lake Gatun is a freshwater reservoir created by the construction of another dam more than a century ago during the creation of the Panama Canal.

Patton has no view on whether the much smaller Rio Indio Dam should be built or not. What he does have is research, perhaps more than any other tropical rainforest in the world.

Patton has no view on whether the much smaller Rio Indio Dam should be built or not. What he does have is research, perhaps more than any other tropical rainforest in the world.

Patton has no view on whether the much smaller Rio Indio Dam should be built or not. What he does have is research, perhaps more than any other tropical rainforest in the world.

As we walk down a modern metal dock, a startled iguana takes a swan dive. It just jumped off the dock into the water and climbed up on a rock. I can see it down there now. Patton says a couple years ago that iguana might have landed on dry dirt.

As we walk down a modern metal dock, a startled iguana takes a swan dive. It just jumped off the dock into the water and climbed up on a rock. I can see it down there now. Patton says a couple years ago that iguana might have landed on dry dirt.

As we walk down a modern metal dock, a startled iguana takes a swan dive. It just jumped off the dock into the water and climbed up on a rock. I can see it down there now. Patton says a couple years ago that iguana might have landed on dry dirt.

And for you as a researcher, is that like, this feels dire and frightening? Or is it like, what an exciting thing to research?