Ari Shapiro

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

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

The drought was caused by El Nino, and scientists have not found a clear connection between El Nino and a warming planet. But Patton says there are some strange patterns emerging. The driest years in more than a century of record-keeping have been in just the last decade.

The drought was caused by El Nino, and scientists have not found a clear connection between El Nino and a warming planet. But Patton says there are some strange patterns emerging. The driest years in more than a century of record-keeping have been in just the last decade.

The drought was caused by El Nino, and scientists have not found a clear connection between El Nino and a warming planet. But Patton says there are some strange patterns emerging. The driest years in more than a century of record-keeping have been in just the last decade.

That helps explain why Panama is looking for ways to increase the supply of fresh water to the canal.

That helps explain why Panama is looking for ways to increase the supply of fresh water to the canal.

That helps explain why Panama is looking for ways to increase the supply of fresh water to the canal.

Jorge Luis Quijano was administrator of the canal from 2012 to 2019.

Jorge Luis Quijano was administrator of the canal from 2012 to 2019.

Jorge Luis Quijano was administrator of the canal from 2012 to 2019.

What is your message to the people in the communities who would be displaced by the construction of this dam?

What is your message to the people in the communities who would be displaced by the construction of this dam?

What is your message to the people in the communities who would be displaced by the construction of this dam?

Back in the village of Limón de Chagres, Alejandrina Muñoz washes dishes as she prepares a breakfast of eggs, yuca, and coffee sweetened with sugar cane. Everything she cooks comes from her land or from the river. She says fresh water from a nearby mountain spring flows right into her home and pours out of the tap. If the dam is built, what will this place be?

Back in the village of Limón de Chagres, Alejandrina Muñoz washes dishes as she prepares a breakfast of eggs, yuca, and coffee sweetened with sugar cane. Everything she cooks comes from her land or from the river. She says fresh water from a nearby mountain spring flows right into her home and pours out of the tap. If the dam is built, what will this place be?

Back in the village of Limón de Chagres, Alejandrina Muñoz washes dishes as she prepares a breakfast of eggs, yuca, and coffee sweetened with sugar cane. Everything she cooks comes from her land or from the river. She says fresh water from a nearby mountain spring flows right into her home and pours out of the tap. If the dam is built, what will this place be?

The canal authority told us they haven't yet decided where displaced people would be resettled. To Muñoz, this is the opposite of a marginal lifestyle. She experiences abundance more than hardship. Relatives who live in the city sometimes drive here to take extra food off her hands. There's a hand-painted sign in front of her house.

The canal authority told us they haven't yet decided where displaced people would be resettled. To Muñoz, this is the opposite of a marginal lifestyle. She experiences abundance more than hardship. Relatives who live in the city sometimes drive here to take extra food off her hands. There's a hand-painted sign in front of her house.

The canal authority told us they haven't yet decided where displaced people would be resettled. To Muñoz, this is the opposite of a marginal lifestyle. She experiences abundance more than hardship. Relatives who live in the city sometimes drive here to take extra food off her hands. There's a hand-painted sign in front of her house.