Klimat jako zasób naturalny wyczerpuje się w znanej nam formie, a powodem tego jest stale zwiększające się zapotrzebowanie człowieka na energię. Najbardziej emisyjne sektory to te związane z zapewnieniem naszej wygody i dobrobytu. O tych zagadnieniach opowiada prof. dr hab. Mirosław Miętus z Instytutu Meteorologii i Gospodarki Wodnej.

O globalnej zmianie klimatu oraz jej scenariuszach dla świata i Polski rozmawiamy z prof. dr. hab. Mirosławem Miętusem - klimatologiem, koordynatorem i członkiem projektów dotyczących globalnych zmian klimatycznych.

We discuss climate change and its potential outcomes for Poland and the world with the climatologist Prof. Mirosław Miętus - coordinator and member of projects studying global climate change.

The climate as we know it is a natural resource that is becoming depleted due to the rising demand for energy. The most emission-intensive sectors are those providing for our comfort and welfare. We discuss these issues with Prof. Mirosław Miętus from the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management.

Mean annual variation of snow depth at the Hornsund Station has been determined. The snow cover usually appears in late September and remains till the beginning of July the next year. The snow depth keeps growing till the first half of March and from then on, until the third dekad of May it does not change. Towards the end of May fast decrease of snow cover occurs mainly due to subsidence by intensive insolation. If compared to the Arctic Basin the snow cover appears in Hornsund three dekads later and disappears about two dekads sooner.

Average duration of a thermal winter in Hornsund has been determined for 216 days. Average soil temperature at depth of 5 cm in winter is equal —9.8°C. During a spring that lasts 35 days only, soil temperatures at depth of 5 cm indicate distribution nearest to a normal one. Soil temperature distribution in winter substantially differs from the one in spring.

On the ground of continuous records of air and soil temperature at standard levels, changes of soil temperature against changes of air temperature have been analyzed at thick and without snow cover. The first example concerns a six-day winter thaw, and the second one a four-day autumn cooling. A particular influence of energy advection has been noted. A delay of changes of soil temperature was found to increase with depth in relation to air temperature. A hypothesis on correlation between air temperature at a height of 5 cm and soil temperature at a depth of 5 cm has been verified.

Monthly and dekadal mean soil temperatures were evaluated with a use of measurements at depths of 5, 10, 20 and 50 cm, collected during the expeditions 1978—1986 and additionally at depths of 80 and 100 cm during the expeditions 1980—1986. Fourier analysis revealed a phase shift of 1 to 2 dekads between neighboring measurement depths.