We talk to the pioneering climate-change researcher Prof. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber about the role of decency in fighting climate change, and why excellent climate science requires freedom and trust.

Prof. Paweł Rowiński, Vice-President of the Polish Academy of Sciences, talks about how climate change will affect Poland and what signs of it should we look for in our rivers.

Uncertainties as to how the climate will change and how it will influence the necessities and trends of irrigation development lead to a number of serious questions to be answered in the near future. How irrigation and water systems will have to adapt to climate changes is a challenge that planners, designers and O&M services will have to cope with.

It is widely accepted that air temperature in Poland will increase of 2–4°C, however a total yearly precipitation will not vary yet its pattern during the year may change towards higher in winter and lower in summer. Evapotranspiration and crop water demand may rise due to both an increase in temperature and duration of crop growth cycles.

Three main factors are expected to exert an accelerating influence on the development of irrigation: increased frequency and intensity of droughts and long-lasting precipitation-free periods with the high insolation and high air temperatures resulting from climate change; the intensification of agricultural production (e.g. in horticulture, orchards, seed crops), being forced by both domestic and European free-market competition; the necessity of reaching high level of quality for the majority of agricultural products.

To mitigate negative effects of climate change and extreme events, appropriate adaptation methods and adaptation strategies should be developed and implemented in existing irrigation and water control systems. A number of technological and organisational steps should be taken to improve operation, management, administration and decision making processes.

It’s difficult to imagine a more curious continent: Antarctica, once very austere and inhospitable, is now becoming greener as a result of climate change.

Prof. Tandong Yao and Prof. Fahu Chen describe our growing understanding of climate change impacts in the “Pan-Third Pole” region, discussing both coping strategies and research initiatives focusing on the region.

Air quality and climate change, as two crucial environmental emergencies confronting our societies, are still generally viewed as separate problems requiring different research and policy frameworks. However, they should rightfully be viewed as two sides of the same coin. What we truly need to seek, therefore, are “win-win” solutions.

Any effective response to ecological crisis calls for collaboration of all parties involved.

Prof. Zbigniew Kundzewicz from the PAS Institute of Agricultural and Forest Environment in Poznań talks about the negative impact of climate change on our lives and what we can do to save ourselves.

Prof. Patrick Meire of the University of Antwerp discusses subtle interdependencies in marine ecosystems and the transformations that they undergo under the influence of climate change.

In 1979, Pope John Paul II spent just nine days in his home country, Poland. This historic pilgrimage lead to a ‘spiritual revolution’ that culminated in the peaceful collapse of the authoritarian regime in Poland, and eventually to the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Could leaders of the Christian churches today spark a similar ‘spiritual revolution’ to combat manmade climate change?

The purpose of this article is to present contemporary climatic changes in their actual scale, and to assess their impact on functioning of urban areas situated on the Polish coast. The results of the analysis of variability of hydro-climatic conditions that occurred in the last 65 years (1951-2015) in the area of the Polish coast suggest that important changes were concerning: (1) temperature of the air, and thickness and length of the occurrence of the snow cover, (2) sea surface temperature, and thickness and length of the occurrence of ice cover, (3) sea level rise during storm surges. It was found, however, that the occurrence of catastrophic fl oods from precipitation in the Tri-City area is not the result of climate change, but it is caused by local conditions. The observed increase of air temperatures, and average sea surface temperatures in the Southern Baltic has generally a positive impact on functioning of coastal cities, and does not need any complex adaptation plans to climate changes. Summer is the only period in which the increase of temperature infl uence cities negatively, due to strengthening the urban heat islands. In this case, the architectural solutions, that require large amounts of energy should be eliminated. In urban planning scale, the solutions helping to cool the space in between buildings should be implemented. Sea level rise in the years 2009-2015, caused by storm surges, should be regarded as a signifi cant change in the climate of the Southern Baltic Sea. Taking these changes into account maps of hazard and flood risk, developed in an ISOK project, should be the basis for detailed records in Study of Conditions and Directions of Spatial Development and local development plans of cities, determining the rules and restrictions of the investment and management in the areas at risk of flooding.

A strategic vision to ensure an adequate, safe and secure drinking water supply presents a challenge, particularly for such a small country as Jordan, faced with a critical supply-demand imbalance and a high risk of water quality deterioration. In order to provide sustainable and equitable long-term water management plans for the future, current and future demands, along with available adaptation options should be assessed through community engagement. An analysis of available water resources, existing demands and use per sector served to assess the nation’s historic water status. Taking into account the effect of both population growth and rainfall reduction, future per sector demands were predicted by linear temporal trend analysis. Water sector vulnerability and adaptation options were assessed by engaging thirty five stakeholders. A set of weighed-criterions were selected, adopted, modified, and then framed into comprehensive guidelines. A quantitative ratio-level approach was used to quantify the magnitude and likelihood of risks and opportunities associated with each proposed adaptation measure using the level of effectiveness and severity status. Prioritization indicated that public awareness and training programs were the most feasible and effective adaptation measures, while building new infrastructure was of low priority. Associated barriers were related to a lack of financial resources, institutional arrangements, and data collection, sharing, availability, consistency and transparency, as well as willingness to adapt. Independent community-based watershed-vulnerability analyses to address water integrity at watershed scale are recommended.