Climate change in puerto rico and water resources impacto del cambio climático en los recursos de agua en puerto rico

1. POTENTIAL IMPACTS
OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
ON THE WATER RESOURCES OF
PUERTO RICO
Ferdinand Quiñones, PE

2. Objetives
 Briefly review current issues on Global
Climate Change
 Present perspective of the water resources
of Puerto Rico in the climate change
environment
 Describe the simplified Thornthwaite
climatic index used to evaluate potential
climatic changes in Puerto Rico
 Results of the evaluations and conclusions
 Questions and Answers

3. HISTORIC AND RECENT
TEMPERATURE DATA

4. HISTORIC CO2 CONCENTRATIONS IN
THE ATMOSPHERE

5. LONG TERM TEMPERATURE CHANGES

6. Milankovich Cycles

8. THORNTHWAITE PRECIPITATION-
EVAPORATION INDEX (IPET)
IPET= 10 Σ P/E, from n=1,12
where P – Average monthly Precipitation, in inches
E – Average monthly Evaporation, in inches
Since values of Evaporation are not readily available,
Thornthwaite developed an equation to estimate
the IPET index using Precipitation (P) and
Temperature values (T), readily available from NWS:
IPET = 115 Σ [(P)/(T-10)], from n=1,12

9. AVERAGE PRECIPITATION IN
PUERTO RICO, 1971-2000

10. AVERAGE TEMPERATURES IN
PUERTO RICO

11. CORRELACION USADA PARA CALCULAR
EVAPOTRANSPIRACION EN PUERTO RICO
Modificado de Giusti, 1978.
ET actual = -0.0064P2
+ 1.1212P
ET potencial = 0.0025P
2
- 0.9295P + 114.96
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0 50 100 150 200
Precipitación anual, en pulgadas
Evapotranspiración,enpulgadas
Potencial
Actual
PRECIPITACION,
PULGADAS
EVAPOTRANSPIRACION,
ENPULGADASS

12. AVERAGE EVAPOTRANSPIRATION IN
PUERTO RICO

13. THORNTHWAITE IPET INDEX APPLIED TO
PUERTO RICO
ZONA
CARACTERISTICAS
DE LA VEGETACION
VALOR DEL
IPET
A (MOJADA) BOSQUE LLUVIOSO >127
C (HUMEDA)
BOSQUE LLUVIOSO
SUBTROPICAL
64-127
D (SUB-HUMEDO) BOSQUE HUMEDO 32-63
E (SEMI-ARIDO) BOSQUE SUBTROPICAL 16-31
F (ARIDO)
BOSQUE SECO
SUBTROPICAL
<16
Natural life zones for Puerto Rico based on Holdridge
Classification System, which is correlated to
Thornthwaite IPET values:

14. LIFE ZONES IN PUERTO RICO

15. GRID USED IN CALCULATIONS
OF PE INDEX

16. COMPOSITE OF PRECIPITATION AND
LIFE ZONES IN PUERTO RICO

17. POTENTIAL CHANGES IN THE LIFE ZONES OF
PUERTO RICO DUE TO TEMPERATURE INCREASES

18. BASINS AND STREAMS IN
PUERTO RICO

19. STATIONS OPERATED BY THE USGS
TO MEASURE STREAMFLOW

27.  Puerto Rico has abundant water resources
 Current precipitation and runoff are ample to
sustain water demands for the foreseeable future
 Potential climate change effects on the Island’s
water resources are projected to be minimal due
to abundace of water
 The Natural Life Zones will change moderately,
with more severe effects on the dry-forest areas
in the southwest region
 Long term effective management and
conservation of the water resources is essential
to minimize climatic impacts
Conclusions and Recommendations

28. ANY WATERY QUESTIONS?????