Panama

Located in Central America, the Republic of Panama has a land area of 29,157 sq. mi. (78,200 sq. km), a population of just over 3.4 million (May 2010 census), and a population density of 115.3 people per sq. mi. (44.5 per sq. km). In spite of being in the tropics, only 7 percent of the land in the country is arable, the second lowest percentage in Central America, with 20 percent used for meadows and pasture, and 44 percent forestland. The level of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Panama was 1.3 metric tons per capita in 1990, rising to 2.3 metric tons per person in 2001, and falling slightly to 1.9 metric tons per person by 2003. It rose to 2.2 metric tons per person by 2007, leaving Panama at 121st in per-capita carbon emissions by country. Most of these emissions come from liquid fuels, which make up 89 percent of all CO2 emissions from the country, with cement manufacturing contributing 6 percent and solid fuels (coal and charcoal) contributing another 3 percent. In 2009, there were 167 cars per 1,000 people in the country, ranking Panama 61st in the world, the highest of any country in Central America.

The Caribbean coast of Panama has long had problems with hurricanes, but the rising water [Page 1091]temperatures in both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean have led to increased worry over flooding and have caused some bleaching of coral reefs in the Archipelago de Bocas del Toro off the northwest coast. Although some 30 percent of the country has been set aside for conservation, the deforestation of many areas used for pasture, especially for cattle, has led to soil erosion, which has also contributed to the destruction of mangrove swamps. There have also been effects on wildlife in the pristine cloud forest on the Quetzal Trail around the Parque Nacional Volcán Barú, and there are concerns that flooding could lead to a spread of insect-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever. These were prevalent until the early 20th century, when there were major moves to prevent infection, and during the 1950s there were major antimalaria campaigns to drain breeding grounds of mosquitoes. More important are the likely effects that rising temperatures will have on water resources in some parts of the country.

The Panamanian government of Guillermo Endara took part in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) signed in Rio de Janeiro in May 1992, and the government of Ernesto Pérez Balladares signed the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC on June 8, 1998. The Kyoto Protocol was ratified on March 5, 1999, and came into force on February 16, 2005.