Drought in Poland

In some regions of Poland drought has been lasting for over a month. Soil becomes drier, and the situation is worsened by heat waves, wind, which dries the soil off, and lack of rain.

According to the opinion of the Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology we can speak here about the drought of a second degree – soil drought. It mainly occurs in North, North-Eastern, Central and East parts of Poland. The main reason of this situation is the lack of precipitation. Heat only adds up to the problem – during the last two weeks daily temperatures exceed 30 centigrades. On whole of Polish territory, 3rd, the highest fire hazard has been announced.

Drought destroyed plenty of harvests: grain, vegetables and fruit. The biggest loss was noted in green pastures; in many regions there will be no grass aftermath. More and more farmers submit applications for natural disaster grants. Drought related loss in Polish crops has been estimated to reach over 50% of the crops predicted for this year.

There is less and less water in rivers. Gradually the level of underground waters also diminishes. Problems with water supply began in June. At that time there was plenty of rain in mountain regions, but in the lowlands precipitation was 50% lower than usual, and in Mazurian, Wielkopolska and Podlasie regions as much as 75% lower. Since the 16th of June there has been no solid rainfall in Poland. In the result of this, water in rivers dropped. In 18 of them it reached the lowest level in the last 30 years. Lack of water means worse crops and as the consequence of this, higher food prices. It also means gradual turning into steppe in the end. In the future we might be forced to ration water.

Work standards and safety inspectorate calls for shortening working hours during heat wave. In practice it can mean either shorter working day or implementation of refreshment breaks during the day. During heat waves, every employer is obliged to provide his employees with free non alcoholic beverages. Juvenile employees should be suspended in their duties if temperature indoors, where they work, exceeds 30 centigrades.
Drought should not have any significant influence on inflation in the fourth quarter of the year announced in Brussels the Ministry of Finance, Stanislaw Kluza. According to his forecast annual inflation at the end of 2006 should be close to 1,5%. The annual inflation index in June was 0,8%.

Power in Poland weakens; power engineers are planning to reduce deliveries. The heat wave caused lack of energy supplies; its delivery to factories might be reduced. Energy consumption enhanced dramatically due to high temperatures. Power plants cannot enlarge production as they would suffer from the lack of cooling water, plenty of them undergo summer extensive renovations, and transmission capability of power lines systems drastically falls down. As for the time being power engineers do not plan any reductions in energy deliveries for household recipients.

Heat wave has become real nuisance to all of us, especially to children and older people. Media advise not to leave homes between 11 and 15 o’clock, drink plenty of water and wear head sun protection. We are still waiting for rain, but the forecast is to remain the same for at least next couple of weeks. As one of or TV weather forecast presenters said: “ I should’ve gone for holiday and leave the same forecast for two months”. Since mid June nothing in Polish weather has changed and we begin to appreciate air-conditioning as the biggest human invention ever.

clobal warming and changes in temperatures is a world wide problem and some people say that future wars will be fought over water access.
The situation in poland is worse because few homes have air conditioning and there is a huge cost associated with its use.
I've always found it hard getting a ice cold can of coke or beer when in poland, I can see that this won't get much better..mmmm