Different responses to climate change of the hydrological regime of Lake Hańcza, the deepest lake in the Central European Plain

Abstract

ABSTRACT The study presents changes in the elements of the hydrological regime of Lake Hańcza in the period 1960–2019, including water temperature, ice cover characteristics and water level. It was determined that statistically significant changes resulted in an increase in water temperature (0.11°C·dec−1), a decrease in maximum ice thickness (5 cm·dec−1) and an increase in water levels (6.7 cm·dec−1). Changes in water temperature and ice cover in the analysed case are different from those in other lakes of the region. As the tests conducted in this study and in previous research have shown, the lake has resisted global warming for a relatively long time, and the change in thermal conditions occurred a decade later than in other lakes in this part of Europe. The analysed case leads to the conclusion that the morphometric features of lakes significantly modify the influence of overriding factors, such as climate conditions.