Climate of Kraków and its impact on the inhabitans’ quality of life in the perspective of climate change

Abstract

Local climate of Kraków is controlled by the location of the city in the Wisła river valley and by surrounding from three sides by convex landforms, together with the impact of urban built-up and processes linked to the city functioning. Urban heat island in Kraków needs to be studied separately in two vertical zones. Precipitation sums are much higher in southern than northern part of the city, which is located in the precipitation shadow. Poor aerosanitary conditions are partially linked to frequent occurrence of weather conditions unfavourable for air pollution dispersion, which to a large extent are controlled by the location of the city in the Wisła river valley. Predicted increase of global air temperature most probably will enlarge the annual number of hot days by 20 to 50 days at the end of the 21st century, in comparison to the period 1971–2000.