According to AFP, the Government of Honduras has put 80% of the country's area, including the capital Tegucigalpa, under drought warning as El Nino damages crops and causes livestock deaths due to lack of water.
The warning was deployed in 234 out of 298 cities, accounting for 80% of the area of Honduras. These areas are being heavily affected as reservoir water levels fall, crops fail and livestock weaken, increasing the risk of food shortages.
Among them, 75 areas are classified as red alert levels - the highest level of danger. The capital Tegucigalpa with about 1.7 million people is also among the areas seriously affected.
The area most heavily affected is the Central American Dry Corridor - a dry land strip stretching across Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua. This is an area vulnerable to extreme weather phenomena.
President of Honduras Nasry Asfura warned that the crisis could last until March or April next year. The government has announced a series of emergency measures, including drilling more wells, building new reservoirs and providing food to the most severely affected areas.
El Nino is a climate phenomenon that causes sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific regions to rise, leading to changes in wind, atmospheric pressure and global rainfall. This year's El Nino is forecast to be one of the strongest ever recorded.
The United Nations' World Food Program (WFP) recently warned that Central America will be the region most heavily affected by the severe food shortage caused by El Nino.
From Mexico to northern Brazil, including the Pacific coast and the Guiana Shield region, about 110 million people experienced the hottest July ever recorded. El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras also broke temperature records in June and July, raising concerns about the risk of food shortages.
Last month, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that El Nino is "pouring more oil into a already burning planet", while pushing the world into an unknown territory.
In Peru, the government last week declared a state of emergency in about one-third of the cities due to the impact of El Nino, and expressed concern that hot weather and heavy rain could cause serious damage to food production.
Meanwhile, in Indonesia, El Nino is said to cause more severe drought, contributing to increasing one of the most intense forest fire seasons in the country in recent years.
