This city in Ecuador is one of the world’s worst coastal climate-change danger zones – and to save it, the poor are pitching in (2024)
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Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city with around three million inhabitants, is among the most vulnerable coastal cities in the world. Earthquakes are a constant threat because of its location close to the Pacific Ring of Fire. An intensified rainy season has increased the risk of floods. Studies repeatedly rank it as one of the top cities most likely to sustain major damage caused by rising sea levels.
But since the 1960s, the delta lands in the Guayas river basin have seen rapid urbanization, especially through informal settlements. Land traffickers occupy a property, sell plots to several families and then put pressure on the actual owner to sell.
These unregulated districts – now home to an estimated 70 per cent of Guayaquil’s population – create a challenge for officials tasked with keeping their poor residents safe. According to the country’s constitution, the state must protect people and nature from all kinds of disasters. This responsibility falls to regional areas.
Guayaquil’s risk management department worked with the NGO Care to develop an inclusive approach. The program “not only empowered institutions, but also the people in the poor districts in town,” department consultant Fabio Donoso says.
Instrumental to its success are 28 “brigades” composed of local volunteers that have been implemented in communities and informal settlements across the city. Members are trained how to respond in emergencies and evacuations, and to exchange information with institutions such as the fire department, police and hospitals.
One of the key parts is the “sala de incidencia,” a video-surveillance hub where reports from the transport system, the police and fire departments and the brigades are collected and analyzed.
Brigade members say they feel much more prepared for disasters. “Our district is like a frying pan,” says Lorena Lozana Charcopa in the Nueva Prosperina district. “We have seen so many floods, as the water is coming in from all sides. ... We have to learn what to do. Now we learned, and it can help us evade even death.”
But the program plays another important role. As the brigades take shape and become more entrenched in the community, they lead to increased social cohesion, says Monica Menendez, subdirector of Guayaquil’s risk management department. “We see how they grow into political organizations that learn to fight for their rights and take decisions in other fields also.”
The system has been a boon to communities, agrees Ms. Charcopa. “We are in direct contact with the municipality. We also request other things, such as a soccer field or a sewage system ... and our problems are resolved much quicker.”
The effect is felt on a personal level, as well. “It is an opportunity to learn something new, in which I can help others,” brigade member Jaime Criana says. “And what I also like about it, is that I made a lot of new friends. I am part of a group now.”
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Guayaquil, Ecuador's biggest city, is one city that is taking measures to adapt to and mitigate to these threats. In 2013, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ranked Guayaquil among the 10 cities most at risk from rising sea-levels which, by 2050, could range from between 20-80 cm in a worst-case scenario.
Large cities surrounded by water -- such as Boston, New Orleans and San Francisco -- will be among the regions that could experience flooding in the near future due to land elevation changes combined with sea level rise -- about 4 millimeters per year, said Ohenhen, who authored the paper.
The country has two seasons: rainy and dry. Ecuador faces a variety of climatic risks such as floods and landslides caused by the increase in annual rainfall during phenomena such as El Niño, as well as droughts that weaken soils and affect agricultural processes.
Ecuador is at risk to several natural hazards, including floods, landslides, droughts, and earthquakes. After floods, which are often associated with the El Niño phenomenon, landslides are the most frequent natural hazards in Ecuador.
Country Summary: Crime is a widespread problem in Ecuador. Violent crime, such as murder, assault, kidnapping, and armed robbery, is prevalent and widespread. The rate of violent crime is significantly higher in areas where transnational criminal organizations are concentrated.
Head towards the Amazon Basin if you'd like the warmer weather but without the sand. In the towns of Tena and Puyo you can enjoy that warm tropical weather of the coast, but in a rainforest environment surrounded by lush jungle, tropical birds, and Amazon tributaries.
Deforestation in the Amazon is one of the most urgent problems. This is mostly and specifically caused by traditional unsustainable agricultural practices and urban development. River fragmentation: hydropower projects threaten one of the most important resources in Ecuador and the world.
So, in the middle – the tropical convergence zone – they cancel each other out. It is why it is scientifically impossible to have tornadoes or hurricanes in Ecuador. The convergence area prevents the formation of strong high- or low-pressure ridges in the atmosphere, as are common in high and low latitudes.
In 2023, the United States experienced 25 natural disasters, which made it the most natural catastrophe-prone country in the world that year. India and China came second on that list with 17 natural disasters occurring in the same year.
There is a Northern Volcanic Zone of South America and Ecuadorian Trench in Ecuador, where the Nazca Plate enters the South American Plate. Therefore, there could be earthquakes, as observed in the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake which followed the Aleutian Trench and Aleutian Volcanic Arc [5] .
As Ecuador's prominence in the cocaine trade boomed, so too did its criminal underworld — luring in new forces including prominent Mexican cartels and Balkan criminal gangs.
Be alert to possible threats. Ecuador has declared a nation-wide state of "internal armed conflict" due to crime and military efforts to combat it. Demonstrations occur frequently. Even peaceful demonstrations can turn violent at any time.
Hobby: Flower arranging, Yo-yoing, Tai chi, Rowing, Macrame, Urban exploration, Knife making
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