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Final Hazards Report on Panama

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Panama has a variety of rain-forests, a desert, and beaches located on both coastlines, the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean. It connects both North and South America. It is shaped almost like an S shape, with its Caribbean coastline being 800 miles  and the pacific one being 1,060 miles long, which lead to the that connect Panama to Costa Rica and the Colombian border. That being said Panama has natural hazards just like any other country, two of those being earthquakes and floods. Because of Panama's tectonic plates there are earthquakes that happen in Panama there are partly large earthquakes with strengths of more than 7.0, which cause damages within a radius of over 100 kilometers. Due to the special tectonic situation of the country, there are more earthquakes than average.  The Panamanian shelf break and inland adds a higher degree of tectonic complexity to the area. The Panama micro-plate is moving northward to the Caribbean Plate. Its ongoing collision with South America oc

Panama Coastal Erosion

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    Regional variations exist due to natural winds and ocean currents, which occur over time. But  other factors can also play an important role, such as uplift or subsidence of the ground, changes in water tables due to water extraction or other water management, and even due to the effects from local erosion. Panama's  sea levels have risen creating stress on the physical coastline, but also on coastal ecosystems.  "Saltwater intrusions can contaminate freshwater aquifers, many of which sustain municipal and agricultural water supplies and natural ecosystems. As global temperatures continue to warm, sea level will keep rising for a long time because there is a substantial lag to reaching an equilibrium".  Historical Sea Surface Temperatures  and  Historical Sea Level Anomalies  (satellite observations),   and  Future Sea Level Rise Projections  (model-based).  Projected Coastal Inundation due to Mean Sea Level Rise  and  Projected Coastal Inundation due to Mean Sea Leve