ABSTRACT
However, this may change as significant population growth in tropical coastal locations is expected (IPCC, 2001). It was recently discovered that this might be the case for the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico, a relatively affluent coastal tropical city of nearly 2 million inhabitants, which is growing rapidly and occupying areas around it that were once rural. Until recent times, the forest area around the metropolitan area of San Juan recovered from deforestation of the past. Nevertheless, the fast expansion of urban areas has given rise to loss of much of the reforested area in recent years. A climatological analysis of the surface temperature has revealed that the surface temperature of San Juan is increasing when compared to the surrounding vegetated areas at a rate of 0.06
°
C every year for the past 30 years, a tendency comparable with other regional climate changes induced by global warming.
