Krakow - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the air quality like at post (good/moderate/bad)? Are there seasonal air quality issues? Does the air quality have an impact on health?
There use to be really, really bad seasonal air issues in winter when homes only burned coal to stay warm. Krakow has outlawed all coal and wood burning, including fireplaces and grills, so our home and our barbecue grill run off of natural gas. Surrounding areas may still use wood or coal, but it's nowhere as bad as it used to be. There's a bigger push to move everyone to natural gas, heat pumps, or solar power that has improved this dramatically. - Jun 2024
Krakow is in a river valley and a lot of people still burn coal and trash. When there isn't a good breeze, the pollution gets trapped over the city. You can see the smog and it is really disgusting. Krakow is no joke for bad air in the winter. - Nov 2016
Not good. Surprisingly, in the winter Krakow has air pollution indexes that are among the worst in the world. Poles in this area rely heavily on burning coal (and trash) during the winter. - Mar 2014
It can be brutal during winter. Most residents burn coal, and there were days when I could not bear going outside. - Apr 2013
The air is pretty good, I think. There is some coal smell in the air come winter, though, but it's not that bad. - Sep 2011
Moderate, but there is a lot of open burning of garbage. And Poles often burn coal in the winter that is hard on the lungs. - Aug 2011
