LAUSR

The aim of this article is to analyze the variability of current climate changes, as well as favorable and unfavorable trends in weather conditions for key crops in south-eastern Poland in the April-October period (1901-2010). The climate variability was analyzed for four time slices (climate normals): 1901-1930, 1931-1960, 1961-1990, and 1981-2010. The aforementioned slices include natural dry and wet cycles as well as cool and warm periods. Numerous weather bulletins and written accounts were used in this study, as well as mean area temperature values and precipitation totals. The data, especially from the last 30 years, implies that key crops will be less susceptible to heat related stress during spring months whilst becoming more susceptible to the precipitation deficit stress in the summer months (due to increased evaporation and the lack of a clear precipitation trend). The article also proves that climate analyses based on mean values recorded over an extended period of time are useful for characterizing current climate conditions in a historical context, but can neither be applied for forecasting purposes nor put to practical use.