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groundloop

(13,912 posts)
Wed Sep 24, 2025, 05:36 PM Sep 2025

For the First Time in 40 Years, Panama's Ocean Lifeline Has Vanished

I just now stumbled across this article.

https://scitechdaily.com/for-the-first-time-in-40-years-panamas-ocean-lifeline-has-vanished/


The annual phenomenon of upwelling in the Gulf of Panama failed to occur in 2025 for the first time on record. A team of scientists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) linked the disruption to weakened trade winds.

Each year during Central America’s dry season (typically December through April), northern trade winds trigger upwelling in the Gulf of Panama. This process brings cold, nutrient-rich waters from deep in the ocean to the surface, sustaining productive fisheries and shielding coral reefs from heat stress. The rising cool waters also keep the Pacific coast of Panama noticeably cooler during the region’s “summer” vacation months.

STRI researchers have monitored this seasonal cycle for more than four decades, documenting its consistent recurrence between January and April. In 2025, however, the process did not take place, marking the first observed failure. As a result, expected temperature declines and productivity increases were significantly reduced.

In a study published in PNAS, the team concluded that a sharp weakening of wind patterns was the likely driver of this unprecedented event. The results reveal how climate instability can disrupt long-standing oceanic systems that have supported coastal fisheries for millennia. Additional investigation is needed to pinpoint the exact mechanisms and assess the potential long-term impacts on marine resources.

9 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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For the First Time in 40 Years, Panama's Ocean Lifeline Has Vanished (Original Post) groundloop Sep 2025 OP
Waterworld opening sequence Chasstev365 Sep 2025 #1
Thank you. This is important. ancianita Sep 2025 #2
Yes canetoad Sep 2025 #3
It won't be chaos, it will be collapse - Nigrum Cattus Sep 2025 #6
The majority Republican owned media will keep everyone in the dark about it no doubt. live love laugh Sep 2025 #9
An earlier post. Always worth repeating. erronis Sep 2025 #4
Nothin to see here. progressoid Sep 2025 #5
Trump says it's all a hoax and he's a stable genius whose uncle taught at MIT surfered Sep 2025 #7
Thanks to the dupes that put him there. Turbineguy Sep 2025 #8

ancianita

(43,358 posts)
2. Thank you. This is important.
Wed Sep 24, 2025, 06:49 PM
Sep 2025

The time is coming when there won't be deep cold Pacific Ocean water anymore; that cold water will only exist at the poles. And so the world's concentration of sea life will only be there, since it won't be able to survive the increasingly acidic, de-oxygenated oceans.

canetoad

(21,029 posts)
3. Yes
Wed Sep 24, 2025, 06:54 PM
Sep 2025

This worries me greatly. We are in the midst of some very large climate systems that are so finely balanced that an event like this can cause utter chaos.

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