Impact of Extreme Weather Events on the Beaches of Puerto Rico: The Case of Ocean Park, San Juan

Rafael Mendez-Tejeda^1, , Kevián Augusto Pérez-Valentín² and Maritza Barreto-Orta³

¹Departament of Natural Science, Lab. Atmospherical Science, University of Puerto Rico at Carolina

²Department of Environmental Science, UPR Rio Piedras Campus

³Graduate School of Planning, UPR Rio Piedras Campus

Cite this paper:
Rafael Mendez-Tejeda, Kevián Augusto Pérez-Valentín and Maritza Barreto-Orta. Impact of Extreme Weather Events on the Beaches of Puerto Rico: The Case of Ocean Park, San Juan. American Journal of Marine Science. 2020; 8(1):1-5. doi: 10.12691/marine-8-1-1

Abstract

Extreme weather events (EWE) affecting the island of Puerto Rico have increased in frequency and intensity since 2010, including tropical cyclones, cold fronts, heat waves, etc. The most devastating of these events was Hurricane Maria (HM) in 2017, which caused estimated damages of more than $94 billion dollars and destroyed the coastline of the island . After the hurricane, a series of extreme events has caused further erosion along the coastline, especially along the northern coast, which is eroded by the Atlantic Ocean. Ocean Park Beach is located along the northern coast in San Juan, which was greatly affected by coastal erosion during the summer of 2019 as a result of extreme events and increasing sea level. At the same time, due to the poor planning of coastal infrastructure, these events have severely impacted housing, commercial, and tourism infrastructure (restaurants, hotels, bars, etc.) as well as recreational activities such as beach volleyball, football, paddle surfing, windsurfing, etc.

Keywords:
coastal erosion Puerto Rico extreme events Ocean Park

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