According to the institution, the measure is aimed at those towns in the Andean country located at an altitude of less than 1,500 meters above sea level.

The declaration focuses on 489 parishes, from 143 cantons in 17 Ecuadorian provinces where, according to the SGR, complications are expected on the second semester of this year.

The parishes that would experience the phenomenon are in the provinces of Azuay, Bolívar, Cañar, Carchi, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, El Oro, Esmeraldas, Guayas, Imbabura, Loja, Los Ríos, Manabí, Pichincha, Santa Elena, Santo Domingo De Los Tsáchilas and Galapagos, revealed the SGR.

The National Committee for the Study of the El Niño Phenomenon (Erfen) in Ecuador recently warned that the presence of this weather event in the Pacific region will prolong the rainy episodes here.

According to the Erfen report, abnormal warming has been observed in the Ecuadorian sea and off the northern coast of Peru, registering an ocean temperature between 27 and 29 °C, which is up to 1.5 °C higher than normal.

Similarly, the Oceanographic and Antarctic Institute of the Ecuadorian Navy (Inocar) warned that the equatorial Pacific has rapidly evolved towards warm conditions and if this scenario continues, the rainy season will extend in the coastal area of the Andean country from the second semester of this year.

According to Inocar, El Niño is produced by a warming of the Pacific Ocean every three or seven years and this mass of warm water causes the trade winds to weaken or change direction.

ef/lam/nta