On the 23rd, the Colombian government issued a decree declaring a one-year "state of national disaster" across the country, in order to allocate resources in advance, reduce the risk of meteorological disasters, and respond to the serious crisis that may be brought about by the El Niño phenomenon.
The decree states that data show the El Niño phenomenon is extremely likely to intensify in the coming months, potentially causing severe and lasting impacts on Colombia's water resources, food supply, and essential services such as power.
According to the decree, under the "state of national disaster," the Colombian National Unit for Disaster Risk Management will coordinate all levels of government and the private sector, focusing disaster prevention efforts on areas such as water conservation and supply, food security assurance, energy transition for rural and low-income households, public health monitoring, and forest fire prevention.
El Niño refers to the climate phenomenon in which sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean remain abnormally high, thereby influencing global atmospheric circulation.