Puerto Rico State of the Climate 2010-2013: Assessing Puerto Rico’s Social-Ecological Vulnerabilities in a Changing Climate

Puerto Rico’s State of the Climate report is a comprehensive climate change vulnerability assessment for Puerto Rico as of 2013. It is comprised of three individual assessment reports focused on climate change impacts to Geophysical and Chemical Science, Ecology and Biodiversity, and the Economy and Society of the island territory. The overall assessment concludes that the coastal communities of Puerto Rico, critical infrastructure, economic development, tourism, natural resources and biodiversity, and cultural and historic resources are all vulnerable to climate change.

The Puerto Rico Climate Change Council (PRCCC) was created under the Puerto Rico Coastal Zone Management Program to conduct the assessments. The work of the PRCCC was administered under four sub-groups:

(1) Geophysical and Chemical Scientific Knowledge

(2) Ecology and Biodiversity

(3) Economy and Society

(4) Communicating Climate Change and Coastal Hazards.

Working Group 4 is different than the first three working groups in that they do not make assessments, but have created an outreach and communications strategy for the entire project, to ensure results will be widely disseminated and effectively integrated into planning.

The first assessment from Working Group 1 describes the trends and projections of Geophysical and Chemical impacts of climate change. Climate projections for Puerto Rico are modeled around air temperature, precipitation, extreme weather events, sea surface temperatures, sea level rise, tropical storms and hurricanes, and ocean acidification.

Working Group 2 - Ecology and Biodiversity assessed the following sectors: Beach Ecosystems; Forests; Wetlands; Coral Reefs; Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (Seagrasses); Coastal Lagoons; Bioluminescent Bays; Cays and Islets; Amphibians and Reptiles; Sea Turtles; Marine Mammals; Seabirds and Shorebirds; Coastal Fish Species; and Pelagic Fish Species.

Biophysical outcomes or impacts of climate change are charted for each of the ecosystem types, and described extensively. The report also discusses individual species within these taxa (such as sea turtles, shore birds or fish) that occur regularly in Puerto Rico. The climate effects on each group are described, along with significant "Research and Information Needs." 

The Working Group 3 Report - Climate Change and Puerto Rico’s Society and Economy - details the anticipated climate impacts on Critical Infrastructure; Energy; Communications;  Transportation;  Ports; Waste Management and Recycling; the Industrial Landscape and Brownfields; Buildings; Historic and Cultural Sites; Water Resources; Wastewater and Stormwater; and Dams, Levees and Flood Control.

Along with rapid urbanization, people are living in floodways, and in coastal areas subject to storm surge. Coastal zone communities in Puerto Rico are exposed to many hazards intensified by climate change such as coastal and riverine flooding, tsunamis, hurricanes, landslides, and droughts.

Increased intensity in tropical cyclones or hurricanes from climate change is projected here, and Puerto Rico faced Hurricane Irene in 2011 during the development of this assessment.

According to the report, after Hurricane Irene struck Puerto Rico in August 2011, the island was continuing to recover from the heavy rains, flooding, landslides and mudslides seven months later. The Government of Puerto Rico and the Federal Emergency Management Agency cited the approval of more than $83.9 million in federal grants for disaster aid (FEMA 2012); meanwhile hurricane impacts were estimated at over $1 billion. 

 

Publication Date: 2013

Related Organizations:

  • Puerto Rico Climate Change Council
  • Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources

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Resource Types:

  • Assessment

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