The purpose of this article is an interpretation of 145 names of chosen valleys and couloirs of the Polish part of the Western Tatra Mountains. There are solely oronyms, which consist of two main components – valley or couloir and other lexemes that show various characteristics of their designations. The study has shown that the information on the topographic nature of an object that recorded in its name is sometimes not compatible with the given geographic term that assigned to the object. This problem can be shown on the example of names excerpted from the publication Rzeźba Tatr Polskich (1988) by Klimaszewski. These oronyms were compared with names excerpted from the monograph Polskie Tatry Zachodnie (1996) by Kunicki and Szczerba. The objective has been achieved using the classification of toponyms by Kornaszewski (1986) that shows how to discern the motivational meaning of toponyms.

The study discusses changes in the sunshine duration in Poland, occurring in the years 1966–2018. The main analysis was carried out on a series of annual area sunshine duration, calculated from 11 stations, distributed relatively evenly throughout the area of Poland (variable UPLRK). A discontinuity was found in the course of UPLRK, consisting a quantum leap of this value in the years 1987–1989, and then the appearance of a statistically significant positive trend in the course of UPLRK. A change in the course of UPLRK and the total change in the sunshine duration regime occurred at the moment of change in ‘circulation epochs’, characterized by a change in the frequency structure of the mid-tropospheric circulation of macro-types W, E and C according to the Wangengejm-Girs classification. The frequency of these macro-types, by controlling the variability of the lower circulation (SLP fields), controls changes in sunshine duration. An increase in the frequency of the W macro-type, with which the UPLRK values are positively correlated, and a simultaneous decrease in the frequency of the E macro-type, with which sunshine duration is negatively correlated, which occurred at the time of change of macro-circulation epochs in 1987–1989, resulted in corresponding changes in the behavior of the sunshine duration process in Poland. Changes in the frequencies of the W and E macro-types are controlled by changes in the distribution of heat resources in particular waters of the North Atlantic. These changes are controlled by changes in the North Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation (NA THC). As a result, the changes in the UPLRK observed in the years 1966–2018 reconstruct changes in both the macro-circulation conditions in the Atlantic-European circulation sector and changes in the NA THC phases. This allows for a conclusion that the variability of UPLRK is a result of the internal dynamics of the climate system, and not, as it has been believed so far, the effects of anthropogenic changes in the concentration of aerosols in the atmosphere.

The purpose of the article is to present the geographical diversity of four national parks in Rwanda (Volcanoes National Park, Akagera National Park, Nyungwe National Park, Gishwati-Mukura National Park), as well as a diversified approach to the ways of sharing them as centers of nature-based tourism. The first part attempts to define nature-based tourism and to outline the characteristics of the geographical environment and the state of tourism development in Rwanda. The natural tourist values of national parks and ways of making them available for tourism were discussed on this background. The study used secondary materials (literature, reports, statistical data) as well as primary materials – results of the field inventory and interviews conducted with employees of the national parks during the geographical field seminar in Rwanda entitled Tourism and the functioning of protected natural areas in overpopulated conditions (January-February 2020). The knowledge and experience of the author who is a native resident of Rwanda was also important in collecting and interpreting data. The conclusions present a synthetic diversity of the geographical environment of Rwanda with regard to three main zones. In addition, the importance of the economic effects of nature-based tourism for many beneficiaries was emphasized: residents, entrepreneurs, the geographical environment of national parks, as well as the state economy. Recommended further research concerns the need to take up issues also in the field of community-based tourism, environmental awareness and attitude of society, and development opportunities for sustainable and responsible tourism in Rwanda.

The aim of the article is to present the results of research on perception of automotive tourism and tourists’ motivations to participate in this form of mobility. The authors propose to define automotive tourism as a form of tourism in which the aim and travellers’ motivation is to visit places related to the automotive industry, important for its development and history. So far, research on this issue has been insufficient. The survey was conducted in the summer season of tourist movement in 2019 among 194 visitors to automobile museums and 217 participants of automotive events. The most frequently indicated motivations for participation in automotive tourism were interests, curiosity, willingness to spend time with the family and to spend free time generally, but also the willingness to be an active participant in the event was often chosen. The understanding of the definition of automotive tourism proposed by the authors is shared by about half of the respondents, but a large part understands it in the context of traveling by car or motorcycle in order to reach a tourist attraction, which in the literature is usually referred to as car or drive tourism. Automotive tourism shows strong connections with cultural, family and event tourism.