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Air sampling was conducted in Szczecin (Poland) throughout April–September 2013. The final data set included 177 daily and 4248 hourly samples. The total of 21 types of spores, which occurred in a number >10 in the season, were taken into account. The following meteorological parameters were analyzed: air temperature, relative humidity, precipitation and wind speed. Effects of individual weather parameters on hourly and daily concentrations of different fungal spore types were examined using Spearman’s rank association test, whereas effects of complex of meteorological factors on hourly and daily compositions of spore were assessed using detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) and redundancy analysis (RDA). Airborne fungal spore distribution patterns in relation to meteorological variables were determined by RDA, after DCA results detected a linear structure of the spore data. The RDA results obtained indicated that all the applied variables accounted for 20 and 22% of the total variance in the hourly and daily spore data, respectively. The results of stepwise forward selection of variables revealed all included hourly and daily meteorological variables were statistically significant. The largest amount of the total variance in the spore composition was explained by the air temperature in both cases (16%). Multivariate ordination did not show large differences between the hourly and daily relationships (with exception of wind speed impact), while the differences between simple hourly and daily correlations were more clear. Correlations between daily values of variables were in most cases higher than between hourly values of variables.

Birch pollen grains are one of the most important groups of atmospheric biological particles that induce allergic processes. The fluctuation pattern of birch pollen seasons in selected cities of Poland is presented. Measurements were performed by the volumetric method (Burkard and Lanzoni 2000 pollen samplers). The distributions of the data were not normal (Shapiro–Wilk test) and statistical error risk was estimated at a significance level of <em>α</em> = 0.05. Pollen season was defined as the period in which 95% of the annual total catch occurred. The linear trend for the selected features of the pollen season, skewness, kurtosis and coefficient of variation (<em>V</em>%) were also analyzed. During the 12–14 years of study, the beginnings of birch pollen seasons were observed 7–14 days earlier, the ends were noted 5–10 days earlier, and the days with maximum values occurred 7–14 days earlier compared to the long-term data. The left-skewed distribution of the pollen season starts in most sampling sites confirms the short-lasting occurrence of pollen in the air. The threat of birch pollen allergens was high during the pollen seasons. If vegetation is highly diverse, flowering and pollen release are extended in time, spread over different weeks and occur at different times of the day. Flowering time and pollen release are affected by insolation, convection currents, wind, and turbulence. Therefore, pollen seasons are characterized by great inter-annual variability.

The study aims to compare the oak pollen season in selected Polish cities: Bialystok, Bydgoszcz, Cracow, Katowice, Piotrkow Trybunalski, Lublin, Olsztyn, Opole, Szczecin, Warsaw, and Wroclaw in 2020. Measurements were made using the volumetric method, with a Hirst-type sampler. Oak pollen season, defined as the period with 98% of the annual total catch, started between April 14th (in Opole) and April 25th (in Lublin). The season ended on June 1st at the latest; in Sosnowiec, Bydgoszcz, Olsztyn, and Bialystok. It lasted from 30 to 47 days (37 days on average). The maximum daily oak pollen concentrations were observed between April 24th and May 11th. The highest annual sum of oak pollen grains (SPI) was recorded in Lublin, while the lowest in Bialystok. The highest concentrations of 596 oak pollen grains/m3 were noted in Lublin on April 28th. The longest exposure to high concentrations of oak pollen (> 91 grains/m3), lasting 12–13 days, was recorded in Lublin, Opole, and Wroclaw.

Understanding the characteristics of storm surges is especially important in the context of ongoing climate changes, which often lead to catastrophic events in the coastal zones of seas and oceans. For this reason, this paper presents the characteristics of the Baltic Sea storm surges and trends in their occurrences through the past 60 years. The study material was based on hourly sea level readings, spanning the years 1961–2020, retrieved from 45 Baltic Sea tide gauges, as well as air pressure and wind field data. Owing to the analysis and visualization of storm situations, two main types of storm surges were identified and characterized: a surge driven by wind and a surge driven by subpressure associated with an active low pressure area. This paper also discusses a third, mixed type of storm surge. Further analyses have indicated that through the past 60 years in the Baltic Sea, the duration of high sea level has increased by 1/3, the average number of storm surges has increased from 3.1 to 5.5 per year, and the maximum annual sea levels have increased—with a trend value of 0.28 cm/year. These processes, also observed in other marine basins, provide strong evidence for contemporary climate change.

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