Nov 3, 2023 | Society An annual “smog ranking” has found that Poland’s air – which is among the most polluted in Europe – has improved significantly The average annual concentration of one type of harmful air-borne particles was within maximum safe limits in all monitored places for the first time since 2015 “These are good signs from a still-smoggy Poland,” says Piotr Siergiej, spokesman of Polish Smog Alarm, the NGO that produced the annual report which is based on 2022 data from the Chief Inspectorate of Environmental Protection (GIOŚ) A Polish city has the EU's worst air while a further four places in Poland occupy spots among the bloc's ten most polluted in a new ranking by @EUEnvironment https://t.co/hh6sPVuabs — Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) June 17, 2021 Smog Alarm’s ranking takes account of three categories: annual average concentration of benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) and small particulates known as PM10s – both of which have adverse health effects – and the number of days in the year during which air pollution levels exceed official safety limits Regarding PM10s, the maximum safe limit for their annual average concentrations is 40 micrograms/m3. The place in Poland with the highest figure was Nowa Ruda – a small town in Lower Silesia that also topped last year’s ranking – where the annual average concentration reached 38 micrograms/m3 Towns with the highest annual average levels of PM10s (source: Polish Smog Alarm) That marked a decrease of 47% over the last nine years Similar falls were recorded in other cities that have some of Poland’s worst air with Kraków and Rybnik seeing PM10 levels decrease by 40% over that period When it comes to the number of smoggy days among the worst ten places the average figure in the latest ranking was 63.2 which represents a 22% decline from last year’s average of 80.9 Towns with the highest annual number of days during which air pollution levels exceeded maximum safe levels (source: Polish Smog Alarm) Siergiej pointed to the declining use of coal heating stoves – known colloquially in Polish as kopciuchy – as a factor over 35% of Polish households were estimated to use coal for heating and this has long been seen as a primary cause of Poland’s air pollution have also moved to ban the use of coal in heating “We can see that the implemented actions are starting to bring results,” said Siergiej it is extremely important that government and local government authorities do not rest on their laurels and continue these activities.” The quality of air in Kraków has improved considerably since 2012 Kraków has long had some of the worst smog in Poland, which itself has the EU's most polluted air. But the city has taken a number of steps to tackle the problem https://t.co/0ipu3JwgE0 — Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) January 28, 2021 the concentration of carcinogenic benzo(a)pyrene is still 900% of the permissible level while in many other places – such as Nowy Targ Rynik and Żywiec – it is 600% or 700% of permitted safe levels Polish Smog Alarm also warns that many towns famous for their “sanatoriums” – places where people are sent to recover their health – have harmful air Rabka-Zdrój and Jedlina-Zdrój all had BaP levels of 300% to 600% of the safe limit “The air is slowly improving and the number of deaths caused by pollution is also decreasing but the situation is still very bad,” said Smog Alarm’s spokesman “The continuation and even acceleration of anti-smog measures is key to improving air quality in our country” Air pollution is estimated to cause 50,000 premature deaths annually in Poland as well as a range of other health problems A court has ordered Poland to pay a man 30,000 zloty compensation after finding that air pollution violated his rights He hopes it will encourage the authorities to deal more seriously with Poland's air pollution, which is among the worst in the EU https://t.co/YWlKwunmRu — Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) December 10, 2021 Main image credit: Jar.ciurus/Wikimedia Commons (under CC BY-SA 3.0 PL) Agata Pyka is an assistant editor at Notes from Poland She is a journalist and a political communication student at the University of Amsterdam She specialises in Polish and European politics as well as investigative journalism and has previously written for Euractiv and The European Correspondent , , The proportion of Poles saying the US has a positive influence on the world has also fallen to its lowest recorded level , , Poland has recorded the strongest rise in consumer sentiment across the EU this year , , , The stunt has also been criticised by Ukraine’s ambassador to Poland as well as politicians from Poland’s main ruling party Apr 30, 2025 | , , , That response will include “large Polish and NATO exercises in Poland” Apr 29, 2025 | , , , Those employed in Poland work on average the third-longest hours in the European Union Apr 28, 2025 | , , , , Westinghouse and Bechtel were first chosen in 2022 as partners on the 192 billion zloty ($51 billion) project please consider helping us to continue and expand it [email protected] Copyright © 2025 Notes From Poland | Design jurko studio | Code by 2sides.pl Senior Research Fellow at the Global Europe Centre ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Weronika Strzyżyńska is currently studying journalism at Goldsmiths as a Scott Trust Bursary recipient She  has written on issues immigration and Brexit for New Statesman and Prospect Agnieszka Wądołowska is managing editor of Notes from Poland She has previously worked for Gazeta.pl and Tokfm.pl and contributed to Gazeta Wyborcza ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland and assistant professor of history at the Pedagogical University of Krakow He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications The Independent and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Stanley Bill is the founder and editor-at-large of Notes from Poland.He is also Senior Lecturer in Polish Studies and Director of the Polish Studies Programme at the University of Cambridge Stanley has spent more than ten years living in Poland He founded Notes from Poland in 2014 as a blog dedicated to personal impressions cultural analysis and political commentary He is committed to the promotion of deeper knowledge and understanding of Poland He is the Chair of the Board of the Notes from Poland Foundation ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Professor of European Studies at Oxford University ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Professor at the Institute of History of the Jagiellonian University ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Executive Director of Taube Family Foundation ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Associate Professor at the Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Science ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR "Jedliniok" is a student folklore group that popularizes Polish national and regional dances in Poland and abroad Students of the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences and other universities in Wrocław dance The Academic Folk Song and Dance Band was established in December 1975 at the Pałacyk ZW SZSP Academic Cultural Center and the District Cultural Center Fabryczna "Zamek" as a folklore dance group founded by Marek Wancław Its name comes from a Lower Silesian dance from the region of Jedlina Zdrój - jedliniok the patronage over the band was given to the College of Rectors of Universities and direct supervision was transferred to the then Agricultural University the university was given full custody of the band Today "Jedliniok" is made up from around 50 dancers singers and musicians – all students and graduates of all Wrocław universities about 2,600 students from all Wrocław universities participated in its classes The current music instructor is Piotr Janiak and since 2002 the band's manager is Henryk Brzezicki The creators and consultants of the program are the most outstanding Polish regionalists Over the 45 year period of its artistic activity the band has represented Poland and the academic community of Wrocław many times at festivals Jedliniok has already performed in Colombia Jedliniok also conducts educational classes for students of Wrocław universities The Choir of the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences under the baton of prof Alana Urbanek has been operating in its current form since November 2009 The ensemble has continued the choir's traditions present at the University of Life Sciences for decades and its members are mainly students and graduates of the university Choristers regularly take part in university celebrations including New Year concerts organized at the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences alongside the greatest stars of Polish pop music Members of the choir also actively participate in the musical life of Wrocław performing oratory and popular music together with other academic choirs The Academic Choir of the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences also performs abroad taking part in various competitions and festivals such as the International Choir Competition in Ohrid in Macedonia It is a great opportunity to visit distant corners of the world and to fulfill yourself artistically Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences25 Norwida St NIP: 896-000-53-54REGON: 000001867EORI: PL896000535400000 This site uses custom cookies to ensure that it functions properly. Some are necessary for the page to run, so will always remain active. These cookies will store information about the user's cookie settings. In addition, third-party cookies are used for external tools. For more information see the privacy policy. Enables storage (such as cookies) related to advertising Sets consent for sending user data to Google for online advertising purposes such as cookies (web) or device identifiers (apps) Enables storage that supports the functionality of the website or app Enables storage related to personalization Enables storage related to security such as authentication functionality