Abstract

VILCHIS MATA, Iván  and  GARROCHO RANGEL, Carlos Félix. Thermopluviometric Behavior in the Toluca Metropolitan Area: the Environmental Deterioration of Cities. Soc. ambient. [online]. 2018, n.18, pp.145-173. ISSN 2007-6576.

Knowing the climate system in the urban environment is essential to advance understanding of the warming process in cities. The objective of the work is to examine the thermopluviometric behavior in the Metropolitan Zone of Toluca (ZMT) for the period 1960-2009, based on spatio-temporal trends of two variables: temperature and precipitation. The method is based on the Mann-Kendall non-parametric statistical test, instrumented in the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) environment. Important climatic variability trends attributable to environmental deterioration are identified. In the period studied, the temperature increased 0.61 °C and the precipitation 92.10 mm, both above the average over half a century. These data can demonstrate the influence of cities as modifying agents of the regional-metropolitan climate system, in a context of local and global environmental changes. Therefore, cities offer opportunities that require attention and empowerment solutions with a sustainable approach, as well as mitigation and adaptation in multiple spheres of activity and at different spatio-temporal scales. As demonstrated in this text, the thermopluviometric regime strategically transcends as an indicator-node that interconnects the environmental, economic and social contexts, in the climatic framework of deterioration, induced, in part, by urban areas.

Keywords : thermopluviometric behavior; environmental deterioration; city; urban climate; sustainable development.