Air quality comparison · Brazil, 966 km apart
Belo Horizonte vs Salvador Air quality index (AQI) today
Belo Horizonte has cleaner air than Salvador right now: AQI 21 (Good) against 42 (Good).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Belo Horizonte averaged AQI 40 against 51, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days. Salvador has lost more forest since 2001. Belo Horizonte has more tree cover.
Brazil
AQI 21
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 4.6 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 10, 17:00 local
Brazil
AQI 42
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 7.5 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 10, 21:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Belo Horizonte21Salvador42
Head to head
Belo Horizonte vs Salvador at a glance
Belo Horizonte is ahead on 6 of 6 measures, and Salvador on 0. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Belo Horizonte | Salvador | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 21 (better) | 42 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 4.6 (better) | 7.5 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 40 (better) | 51 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 139 ha (better) | 263 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 14.2% (better) | 9.8% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 49.6K (better) | 63.3K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Belo Horizonte and Salvador right now?
Belo Horizonte has cleaner air than Salvador right now: AQI 21 (Good) against 42 (Good). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
Belo HorizonteSalvador
Concentrations at the same moment as the index above, for the pollutants both places report. Lower is better. The dark marks on the PM2.5 and PM10 rows show the WHO's 24-hour guidelines (15 and 45 µg/m³).
Belo Horizonte: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Salvador: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Belo Horizonte averaged AQI 40 against 51, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days. A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon; the week says whether it was the weather or the place.
- Cleaner days
- Belo Horizonte4Salvador3
- Average AQI
- Belo Horizonte40Salvador51
- Worst day, AQI
- Belo Horizonte62Salvador55
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Belo Horizonte | Salvador |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 54 | 51 |
| Nov 5 | 55 | 48 |
| Nov 6 | 62 | 55 |
| Nov 7 | 35 | 55 |
| Nov 8 | 43 | 51 |
| Nov 9 | 16 | 47 |
| Nov 10 | 17 | 47 |
Daily averages from the CAMS atmospheric model for both places, so the week compares like with like. They can differ from today's reading at the top of the page wherever that comes from a ground station.
What it means today
Is it safe to go outside in Belo Horizonte and Salvador today?
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Both are in the same EPA band today (Good), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
A good day to be active outside.
Windows
Open them to air the house.
Masks
Not needed.
Air purifier
Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do Belo Horizonte and Salvador compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Belo Horizonte's air is cleaner than 88% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Salvador's is cleaner than 68%. Within Brazil, that is 69% and 38% of its 304 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Belo Horizonte
- Beats 88%
- Salvador
- Beats 68%
More tree cover than…
- Belo Horizonte
- Beats 32%
- Salvador
- Beats 20%
Includes model estimates as well as station readings, so it can differ from our most polluted and cleanest air rankings, which use station readings only.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which has lost more forest, Belo Horizonte or Salvador?
Salvador has lost more: about 263 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 139 ha around Belo Horizonte. 257 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Measured within 10 km of each center, from the yearly satellite maps of forest loss: a wider circle than the one for tree cover, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
Worst year: 2024, with 14 ha lost.
Worst year: 2014, with 23 ha lost.
| Belo Horizonte | Salvador | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 139 ha (better) | 263 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 2.6% (better) | 13% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 96 ha (better) | 257 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (56%) | Towns and roads (93%) |
Satellite timelapses
Watch both change, year by year
A clear satellite photo a year of the land around each city. Press play, turn on the forest cleared since the first year, or drag the before and after.
Belo Horizonte
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Salvador
2019: satellite photo from October 2019 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northeast of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Belo Horizonte or Salvador?
Belo Horizonte has more tree cover: 14.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 9.8% around Salvador, or about 44,611 trees against 30,726.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Belo Horizonte | Salvador | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 44.6K (better) | 30.7K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 49.6K (better) | 63.3K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 981K kg (better) | 676K kg |
Tree cover on the satellite image
The same 2 km radius around each center, with the tree cover the satellite found marked on it.
Reading these numbers
How this comparison is made
Air quality index
The US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations: ground stations where a place has them nearby, and the CAMS atmospheric model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so it is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place. The guideline marks are from the WHO's 2021 air quality guidelines.
Trees and forest
Tree cover is the share of ground under canopy within 2 km of each center, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It measures that circle, not the whole municipality, which is what makes the two comparable. Forest loss comes from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
More on the method on the About Airleaf page.
Frequently asked
Belo Horizonte vs Salvador: your questions answered
Is Belo Horizonte cleaner than Salvador?
On air quality, yes, right now: Belo Horizonte reads AQI 21 against 42, a gap of 21 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Belo Horizonte averaged AQI 40 against 51, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Belo Horizonte and Salvador today?
The advice is the same for both today. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Belo Horizonte reads AQI 21 and Salvador reads AQI 42.
Which has lost more forest, Belo Horizonte or Salvador?
Salvador has lost more: about 263 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 139 ha around Belo Horizonte. 257 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Belo Horizonte or Salvador?
Belo Horizonte has more tree cover: 14.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 9.8% around Salvador, or about 44,611 trees against 30,726. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Belo Horizonte and Salvador need?
Belo Horizonte needs about 49,637 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Salvador about 63,333 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Belo Horizonte and Salvador measured the same way?
The method is the same: the US EPA index for air, and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail over an identical radius for trees. Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Belo Horizonte vs Salvador comparison update?
The air readings refresh about once an hour, and each reading's local time is shown at the top of the page. Tree cover comes from the latest clear satellite image of each area (Oct 1, 2026 and Oct 21, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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