Ecological Risks Perspectives from Poland and the United States (1990) / Chapter Skim
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Diagnosis of Environmental Protection Problems in Poland
Diagnosis of Environmental Protection Problems in Poland
Pages 355-373
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From page 355... ...
Effectiveness, i.e., the conservation as well as the rational use of resources and environmental"goods"; · Consequences, i.e., social, economic, and ecological profits and losses related to the state of the environment; · Hazards, i.e., the results of a scale of development which are potentially harmful to social and economic activities; · Safeguards, i.e., the application of suitable measures to protect or reconstruct a degraded environment. In Poland, the first studies of this type were undertaken at the end of the 1960s and beginning of the 1970s by the Institute of Geography of Jagiellonian University and by the Committee for Protection of Nature and Natural Resources of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Brykowicz and Waksmundzki, 1972; Leszczynski, 1974~.
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From page 356... ...
In 1975, the area of measured air quality exceeding Polish pollution standards was 8,400 km2; by 1980, this area had grown by 27% and continues to grow, albeit at a slower rate due to decreased industrial production. It is estimated that almost 20% of Poland's population lives in these areas.
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From page 357... ...
Estimates of total emissions of major air pollutants in Poland in the period 1985-1987 are shown in Table 1. According to the table, emissions of pollution from harmful sources included in 1987 official statistics amount to 1.8 million metric tons of particulates and 5.4 million metric tons of gases.
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From page 358... ...
Prevailing southwesterly winds bring pollution from the Karvina-Ostrava region of Czechoslovakia to the Rybnik coal district and the Upper Silesian industrial district.
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From page 359... ...
Of the 4,732 industrial plants with high impact on water resource management in Poland, more than 2,900 plants discharge their liquid wastes directly into surface water. Of these, almost 16% have no treatment facilities and another 9% have treatment plants with insufficient capacity.
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From page 360... ...
In addition, there are many district capitals which do not have municipal sewage treatment plants, e.g., Warsaw, Bialystok, Elblag, Kalisz, Lodz, Radom, and Rzeszow. In the Lodz district, no single town has a municipal sewage treatment plant (Main Statistical Office, 1988~.
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From page 361... ...
The sources of collection and production of industrial wastes are concentrated in about a dozen towns, particularly five towns in the Upper Silesian industrial district (Gliwice, Piekary Slaskie, Knurow, Ruda Slaska, Zabrze) , as well as in PoLkowice, Jastrzebie-Zdroj, Walbrzych, Lubin, Krakow, Wodzislaw Slaski, and Rybnik (Main Statistical Office, 1988~.
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From page 362... ...
Legally protected areas in Poland are divided into four distinct categories, which are listed below in order of the stringency of the regulations which govern them: · national parks; nature reserves; landscape parks; and areas of protected landscape. These protected areas have been continually expanding and at the end of 1988 amounted to almost 4.5 million hectares, i.e., over 14% of the country's total area.
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From page 363... ...
The goal is for such areas to cover at least 20-30% of the country in the future and be developed into an interconnected system based on natural conditions. By the end of 1987, areas of protected landscape approved by resolutions of district councils covered over 3 million hectares, i.e., 10% of the country's area (Main Statistical Office, 1988~.
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From page 364... ...
An ecological crisis which annually increases in severity and affects the entire economy as well as every citizen is manifested primarily though: · wasteful exploitation of mineral, water, and forest resources; · rapidly deteriorating conditions in air, water, and soil pollution; · overall degradation of natural potential which threatens further development of agricultural production and forest production, as well as efficient management of water resources; · deterioration of landscape; · increasing contamination of foodstuff;;
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From page 365... ...
Four categories have been distinguished where conditions are highly unsatisfactory for a variety of reasons (Kassenberg and Rolewicz' 1985~. These are: · areas of ecological hazard; cities and towns with major sources of pollution which are not located in areas of ecological hazard; ance; · nature and landscape conservation areas with unstable natural bal· spas endangered with losing their healing values due to unstable natural balance.
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From page 366... ...
towns with under 20,000 inhabitants number 80 611 population: total thousand 710 4,446 share of country % 16.0 ~ e) industrial plants in particularly hazardous branches of industry*
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From page 367... ...
% 61.7 Industrial wastes (1987) share of total accumulated waste in country % 92.6 degree of generation of 2 accumulated wastes tons/km 38.5 4.7 share of wastes produced % 2 89.5 degree of concentration tons/km 4,598.1 575.6 degree of economic utilization % 54.0 54.4 *
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From page 370... ...
The fourth category (endangered spas) includes 23 spas threatened with the loss of their natural healing values due to incorrect management of water resources and liquid wastes, excessive air pollution, and heavy traffic patterns which alter the local climate.
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From page 371... ...
These areas require that natural barriers be overcome through regional development. · Zone IV: a relatively clean environment, without areas of ecological hazard beyond local environmental problems.
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From page 372... ...
1 Areas of ecological disaster 2a Metropolitan areas with extensive pollution 2b Industrial districts with extensive pollution 2c Mining and energy producing districts with extensive pollution 3 Areas of predominant air pollution 4 (a) total area in km2 (b)
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From page 373... ...
6 Spas in danger of losing their healing values due to unstable natural balance: 1 = Kolobrzeg; 2 = Swinoujscie; 3 = Ciechocinek; 4 = Inowroclaw; 5 = Konstancin Jeziorna; 6 = Naleczow; 7 = Czerniawa Zdroj; 8 = Swieradow Zdroj; 9 = Cieplice; 10 = Szklarska Poreba; 11 = Sosnowka; 12 = Kowary; 13 = Szczawno Zdroj; 14 = Karpacz; 15 = Jedlina Zdroj; 16 = Kudowa Zdroj; 17 = Duszniki Zdroj; 18 = Polanica Zdroj; 19 = Ladek Zdroj; 20 = Dlugopole Zdroj; 21 = Swoszowice; 22 = W~eliczka; 23 = Rabka. 7 Cities and tow~ w~th major sources of pollution not located in areas of ecological hazard 8 Boundaries of zones of enviromnental quality
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