El Niño refers to a warm ocean current along the equator near Ecuador, which country is nearest its coast?

El Niño refers to a warm ocean current along the equator near Ecuador, which country is nearest its coast?

• A. Peru
• B. Colombia
• C. Chile
• D. Ecuador

Answer: (D)

El Niño involves warming of surface waters along the equatorial Pacific. The warm band described sits right along the Pacific coast at the equator near Ecuador, so the country closest to that part of the coast is Ecuador itself, which sits on the equator and has a Pacific coastline there. Peru lies just to the south along the same general coast, but not as directly adjacent; Chile is much farther south along the Pacific, and Colombia’s Pacific coast is farther north and not on that equatorial stretch.

El Niño involves warming of surface waters along the equatorial Pacific. The warm band described sits right along the Pacific coast at the equator near Ecuador, so the country closest to that part of the coast is Ecuador itself, which sits on the equator and has a Pacific coastline there. Peru lies just to the south along the same general coast, but not as directly adjacent; Chile is much farther south along the Pacific, and Colombia’s Pacific coast is farther north and not on that equatorial stretch.