Jan Wójcik

In the 20th century Wałbrzych and its surroundings was the most prominent area of coal mining in the Sudetes. Nevertheless, in 1997 the mines were closed. An intensive anthropogenic geomorphic cycle commenced there in 1865 and lasted for 130 years. The biggest transformations in landforms occurred in two basins: Wałbrzych and Kuźnice, where a complex of anthropogenic forms was created from dumps and settling ponds, as well as subsidence depression. Among the dominant geomorphic processes related to anthropopressure were anthropogenic aggradation and anthropogenic denudation. Those processes resulted in raising and lowering of the land surface. Their intensity was diverse both in time and space. The average pace of anthropogenic aggradation in the years 1865–1996 amounted to 328 mm/year and was higher in the years 1945–1996 (439 mm/year) than during the period from 1865 to 1944 (255 mm/year). In both basins: Wałbrzych and Kuźnice, there was an increase in the intensity of this process in the years 1945–1996 when compared to the period of 1865–1944. The pace of anthropogenic denudation in the Wałbrzych coal mining area was considerably lower than the intensity of anthropogenic aggradation. During the research period, the land surface lowered, on average, by 66 mm/year, whereas the pace of the process decreased from 75 mm/year in the years 1865–1944 to 57 mm/year in the period 1945–1996. A considerably higher intensity of anthropogenic denudation was noted the Wałbrzych Basin (96 mm/year) than in the Kuźnice Basin (36 mm/year). It was determined that the anthropogenic denudation balance in the in the Wałbrzych coal mining area in the years 1865–1996 was positive (+262 mm/year). When comparing the scale of anthropogenic aggradation and denudation in several coal mining areas (Wałbrzych, Upper Silesia, Ostrava-Karvina and Ruhr), it needs to be emphasized that in the research area the intensity of those processes in the period 1865–1996 was similar and, at times, higher than in the other areas, which results from the preference of cumulating of gangue on spoil tips as the cheapest way of its disposal, as well as from the dominance of caving coal extraction.

Changes in air pollution in the Wałbrzych Industrial District in Poland in 1975–2000

The article presents the variation of air pollution in the Wałbrzych Industrial District in 1975 – 2000 at its spatial and temporal aspects. It was found that within 1975 – 1986 air pollution occurred here at a significant level and acceptable standards of dust and gas concentrations were often exceeded here. In the period of 1987 – 1994 there was a significant decrease in the concentrations of pollutants in the air, usually below acceptable standards. It was related to the economic crisis at the end of the 1980s and the restructuring of the industry in due to the economic transformation in Poland in the last decade of the 20 th century. In 1995 – 2000, the concentrations of most pollutants in the air does not exceed acceptable standards. The changes in air pollution in the Wałbrzych Industrial District in the period of the economic transformation are similar to the ones which occurred in other industrialised areas e.g. the Upper Silesia Industrial District (Poland), in the Ostrava-Karvina Industrial District (Czech Republic) as well as within the border areas of Poland, Czech Republic and Germany where the energy sector based on brown coal.

Zarys treści: W artykule przedstawiono zróżnicowanie i zmienność zanieczyszczenia powietrza w Wałbrzyskim Okręgu Przemysłowym w latach 1975 – 2000. Stwierdzono, że w latach 1975 – 1986 występowało tu znaczne zanieczyszczenie powietrza, a normy dopuszczalne stężeń yłów i gazów często były wielokrotnie przekroczone. W okresie 1987 – 1994 zaznaczył się znaczny spadek imisji badanych zanieczyszczeń w powietrzu zwykle poniżej norm dopuszczalnych. Wiązało się to z kryzysem ekonomicznym pod koniec lat 80. oraz restrukturyzacją gospodarki i likwidacją tradycyjnych gałęzi przemysłu w regionie w ostatniej dekadzie XX w. W latach 1995 – 2000 stężenia większości zanieczyszczeń w powietrzu nie przekraczały norm dopuszczalnych. Z miany w zanieczyszczeniu powietrza w Wałbrzyskim Okręgu Przemysłowym w okresie transformacji gospodarczej są podobne do tych, jakie wystąpiły w innych obszarach uprzemysłowionych m.in. w Górnośląskim, Ostravsko-Karvińskim oraz na obszarze pogranicza Polski, Czech i Niemiec.