Climate change in Poland ‘progressive and intensifying’

In 1990, the first report of the Intergovernmental Panel of Experts on Climate Change (IPCC) was published, which contained data on the causes and consequences of gradual global warming. Since then, each successive edition has shown more and more clearly how unprecedented these changes were progressing and how severe their consequences were. The greenhouse effect is also being felt in Poland, which can be seen in the “Polish Climate 2022” report by the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management.

The average air temperature in 2022 in Poland was 9.5 °C and was 0.8 °C higher than the annual average from 1991 to 2020. For this reason, the past year should be classified as very warm. The warmest region turned out to be Podkarbasi, where the average was 9.9 °C and was 0.9 °C higher than the local average. The coldest was in the high-altitude parts of the Sudetes and Carpathians – the average there was 8.9C, which means it was 0.8C below normal.

August was the hottest month in 2022, but abnormally high temperatures also occurred in February, June, and October. Summer, i.e. the period from June to August, was the second warmest summer in Poland since the middle of the 20th century. The coldest months were April and September, which featured an average of one degree lower than normal.

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The national average precipitation in 2022 was 534.4 liters per square meter, just 88 percent of the long-term average. Therefore, the past year is one of the dry years. The greatest lack of precipitation is observed in the central part of the coast, but the problem has affected almost the entire country.

In addition, almost all over Poland, with the exception of the southern border of the country and part of the Lake District belt, a negative climatic water balance (KBW) was recorded. This means that more was evaporated from the country than was supplied by precipitation.

The year 2022 continued a strong upward trend in air temperature in Poland. As Synoptics explains imgwsince 1951, the annual temperature increase is estimated at 2.09 ° C. The growth rate depends on the climatic zone of the country: the strongest temperature increase occurs in the Lake, Podkarbasi and Carpathian regions, and the weakest – in the highlands and in the Sudetes.

Analysis of historical data shows that since 1851 the air temperature in selected large Polish cities has increased in the range of 1.49 °C per Gdansk up to 2.30°C in Warsaw. The report stresses that the rate of temperature rise in large urban agglomerations has increased significantly over the past 40 years.

– The information contained in the report on the state of the climate system in Poland confirms that the process of climate warming in our country is progressing and increasing – said Mirosław Mitos from the Research and Development Center of IMGW-PIB, lead author of the report. It is worth considering and undertaking adaptation work in order to reduce the damage caused by similar events in the future.

Forecasters added that the impact of recent warming is widespread – and the next two to three decades will be crucial for the future of the Earth. A changing climate threatens agricultural production, water resources, and human safety and health.

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