Weather forecasting requires knowledge of the laws of atmospheric movement. Apart from classic fluid mechanics, we must consider the rotational motion of our planet, the differential heating of its surface through the absorption of solar radiation, as well as water evaporation and condensation processes.

Mineral composition of bedrock is the main factor determining salt mineralization in the weathering zone of Seymour (Marambio) Island (maritime — Antarctic continent climatic boundary). Supply of salts by sea water spray can accelerate weathering process, modify chemical formula of salt minerals and give ephemeral efflorescences of easy soluble chlorides and partially longer lasting gypsum on the surface. Microbiologically mediated oxidation of sulphides and followed acid sulphate drainage formed K and Na jarosite, basic amorphous aluminium sulphate, gypsum, aluminium bearing ferrihydrite and ankerite in weathering zone of Paleogene sediments. Intense alteration of well-lithified, calcareous sandstones of unit 1 of the López de Bertodano Formation (Cretaceous) on old erosion surface led localy to surface mineralization comparable with that found in Antarctic Continent. Stones laying on the soil surface are covered by thin red film of ferrihydrite above the soil level and by light green crust of aragonite coloured by glauconite pigment on the underground side. Most of the Cretaceous sediment does not contain sulphides nor alteration susceptible silicates thus ephemeral sea salts efflorescences observed on its surface are more prominent than in another places.

Analysis of weathering parameters of bones from cave deposits is presented as a useful tool of palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. As an example, we studied profiles of sediments in two Palaeolithic sites: Nietoperzowa Cave and Deszczowa Cave. Our studies included histological and EDS analyses of bone remnants found in these profiles. This method allowed us to reconstruct the changes of palaeotemperature and palaeohumidity, and finally the climatostratigraphy of sediments. The results presented here put a new light onto the stratigraphy of Deszczowa Cave's filling. In particular, besides the Vistulian sediments (MIS 2-5d), we confirmed the presence oflayers formed during the Penultimate Glaciation (MIS 6) and Eemian Interglacial (MIS 5e).

Due to unfavorable factors, dangerous conditions occurred in the delivery of electric energy in Poland. This was the most serious incident of its kind since the 1980’s. Such a serious incident raised concern about the safety of the electric power system in the summer and led to the formulation of conclusions for the future. In this article, the author analyses the conditions, which caused that situation. Poland was experiencing a doubt in August 2015, which along with an extremely high maximum daily temperature created remarkably unfavorable conditions for power plants and decreased the capacity of overhead power lines. Such unfavorable metrological conditions occurred not only in Poland, but also in Central-Eastern and Western Europe. It is worth emphasizing that the safety of electric energy delivery was endangered only in Poland. The improper renovation and upkeep policies, as well as unplanned outages in power plants caused a significant decrease of available power in the National Electric Power System. Unscheduled flows between Germany and Poland ruled out the possibility of importing electric energy at such a critical time. The author presents the correlation between the maximum daily air temperature in the sweltering heat and an increase in the demand for electric energy. Overall, unfavorable conditions posed a threat in the delivery of electric energy in Poland. In this article, the author draws attention to the report from the Supreme Audit Office (Najwyższa Izba Kontroli – NIK) from 2014, which predicted such a dangerous situation. Unfortunately, that report remained unnoticed. The author formulated appropriate solutions in order to increase the safety of electric energy delivery in the summer and to prevent such occurrences in the future.

Mid-winter rapid rise of temperature in the vicinity of Arctowski Station, King George Island (West Antarctica) was studied in 1991. Depending on circumantarctic migration of cyclones, sudden drop in air pressure and foehn-like phenomenon intensified by local topography occurred. Two such events are described on May 13 and June 28, against meteorological conditions during autumn and winter. Extreme intensification of morphogenetic processes caused degradation of a snow cover, immense meltwater discharge, radical transformation of slopes, effective aeolian activity and dynamic modifications in a sea-shore zone.

It is widely known and accepted that the global climate is changing with unprecedented speed. Climate models project increasing temperatures and changes in precipitation regimes which will alter the frequency, magnitude, and geographic distribution of climate-related hazards including flood, drought and heat waves. In the mining industry, climate change impacts are an area of research around the world, mostly in relation to the mining industry in Australia and Canada, where mining policies and mitigation actions based on the results of this research were adopted and applied. In Poland, there is still a lack of research on how climate change, and especially extreme weather events, impacts mining activity. This impact may be of particular importance in Poland, where the mining industry is in the process of intensive transition. The paper presents an overview of hazardous events in mining in Poland that were related to extreme weather phenomena. The needs and recommended actions in the scope of mitigating the impact of future climate change on mining in all stages of its functioning were also indicated. The presented analyses and conclusions are the results of the first activities in the TEXMIN project: The impact of extreme weather events on mining activities, identifying the most important factors resulting from climate change impact on mining.

This study aims to evaluate changes in the frequency and severity of historical droughts (1980–2018) and then model future droughts occurrences (2019–2099) in the Lepelle River Basin (LRB), using Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) General Circulation Model (GCM) simulations for two representative concentration pathways (RCP8.5 and RCP4.5). Firstly, the present-day and future hydrology of the LRB are modelled using the weather evaluation and planning (WEAP) model. Mann–Kendall tests are conducted to identify climate trends in the LRB. The reconnaissance drought in-dex (RDI) and the streamflow drought index (SDI) are employed to explore hydro-meteorological droughts in the Lepelle River Basin, South Africa. The RDI and SDI are plotted over time to assess drought magnitude and duration. The simulated temporal evolution of RDI and SDI show a significant decrease in wetting periods and a concomitant increasing trend in the dry periods for both the lower and middle sections of the LRB under RCP4.5 as the 22nd century is approached. Lastly, the Spearman and Pearson correlation matrix is used to determine the degrees of association between the RDI and SDI drought indices. A strong positive correlation of 0.836 is computed for the middle and lower sections of the LRB under the RCP8.5 forcing. Further findings indicate that severe to extreme drought above –2.0 magnitude are expected to hit the all three sec-tions of the LRB between 2080 and 2090 under RCP8.5. In the short term, it is suggested that policy actions for drought be implemented to mitigate possible impacts on human and hydro-ecological systems in the LRB.

The physical and chemical properties of cements with slag originated from the storage yards of different age, added as a supplementary cementing material are highlighted. The materials after 20-year storage, the crushed slag after approximately 2-year storage and the new slag from the ongoing production were compared. The materials supplied by the same metallurgical plant were characterized. The blended cements were produced by Portland cement clinker grinding with gypsum and slags added as 5 to 50% of binder mass. The standard properties of cements were examined, as well as some experiments related to the kinetics of hydration and hydration products were carried out. The addition of granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) stored for a long time, as a component of cement, affects the properties of material in such a way that the early compressive strength is not specially altered but at longer maturing the strength decreases generally with the storage time and percentage of additive. This is related to the reduction of the vitreous component, as well as to the presence of weathered material of altered activity. At the additive content up to 50% the binder complying with the requirements of the European standards for CEM III/A or CEM II/(A,B)-S common cements can be produced. The cements with the old slag meet the requirements of EN 197-1 relating at least to the class 32,5. The role of calcium carbonate, being the product resulting from the slag weathering process, acting as a grindability and setting/hardening modifying agent, should be underlined.

The durability of roads is dependent on the proper screening of the variations in subsurface geological characteristics and conditions through geo-engineering investigations and good construction practices. In this study, electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) technique was used to investigate the subsurface defects and potential failures along the substrate of Etioro-Akoko highway, Ondo State, southwestern Nigeria. Results of the inverse model resistivity sections generated for the two investigated traverses showed four distinct subsurface layers. The shallow clayey topsoil, weathered layer, and partially weathered/fractured bedrock have resistivity values ranging from 4–150 ohm-m, 10–325 ohm-m, and 205–800 ohm-m, with thickness values of 0–2 m, 0.5–12.5 m, and less than few meters to > 24 m, respectively. The fresh bedrock is characterised by resistivity generally in excess of 1000 ohm-m. The bedrock mirrored gently to rapidly oscillating bedrock troughs and relatively inclined deep penetrating multiple fractures: F1–F’1, F2–F’2 and F3–F’3, with floater in-between the first two fractures. These delineated subsurface characteristic features were envisaged as potential threats to the pavement of the highway. Pavement failures in the area could be attributed to the incompetent clayey sub-base/substrate materials and the imposed stresses on the low load-bearing fractured bedrock and deep weathered troughs by heavy traffics. Anticipatory construction designs that included the use of competent sub-base materials and bridges for the failed segments and fractured zones along the highway, respectively, were recommended.

This article comprises an analysis of the variability of meteorological conditions on Kaffiøyra (NW Spitsbergen, Svalbard) in 2013–2017 in connection with atmospheric circulation and the extent of sea ice. The obtained results were compared with the results of observations made at the Ny-Ålesund station. Due to the situation of the area in the polar region and the large amount of clouds, especially in summer, the annual sum of incoming solar radiation was small, amounting to an average of 2,237.8 MJ.m-2 per year. The mean air temperature in the considered period was -2.0°C. Its extreme values ranged from 15.2°C to -23.8°C. In the annual course, the highest mean temperature occurred in July (6.5°C), and the lowest in March (-7.8°C). The mean relative humidity of air was high (83%). The prevailing wind directions were from south and north sectors and this coincided with the orientation of Forlandsundet. The mean wind speed was 3.6 m.s-1. In the summer season in 1975–2017, a statistically significant air temperature increase was observed, reaching 0.28°C/10 years. The high variability of local weather conditions was caused mainly by atmospheric circulation and the impact of sea ice was much smaller in comparison.