El
Niño-Related Drought To Drag On In
Nicaragua: experts
MANAGUA -
Nicaragua's ongoing drought, an aftermath of
El Niño, is expected to last for at least
three more months, local experts warned.
Esperanza Nurinda, a meteorologist at the
Nicaraguan Institute of Territorial Studies
(INETER), said that the drought would
continue in the country's Pacific coastal
areas for the first three months of this
year.
"El Niño could continue to be moderate in
the Pacific off Nicaragua, but it will be
felt stronger in drought in the country's
north and northeast," the meteorologist
added.
Nurinda warned that the drought would have
severe effects on the agricultural sector.
According to the Nicaraguan Agriculture,
Livestock and Forest Ministry, the three
departments in the north have been the most
affected by the El Nino-related drought that
started in 2009.
Nicaragua has 17 administrative regions in
all, known as departments or autonomous
communities.
On Monday, the European Commission office in
Managua said that it would donate 155,000
U.S. dollars worth of technology and
commodities to support some 6,500 people in
the three drought-hit regions for four
months.
INETER also said that the El Niño-related
drought had affected three other regions in
the centre and northeast of the country.
El Niño, or El Ninñ-Southern Oscillation, is
a periodic climate pattern. It happens
roughly every five years across the tropical
Pacific. When El Niño occurs, there are
droughts, floods and other weather
disturbances.
Developing countries bordering the Pacific
and dependent on agriculture and fishing,
like Nicaragua, are the most affected by El
Niño.
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