Air quality comparison · Angola, 381 km apart
Benguela vs Calumbo Air quality index (AQI) today
Calumbo has cleaner air than Benguela right now: AQI 54 (Moderate) against 56 (Moderate).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Calumbo averaged AQI 51 against 58, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Calumbo has lost more forest since 2001. Calumbo has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Benguela56Calumbo54
Head to head
Benguela vs Calumbo at a glance
Calumbo is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Benguela on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Benguela | Calumbo | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 56 | 54 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 11.7 (better) | 11.8 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 58 | 51 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | under 1 ha (better) | 201 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 6.8% | 28.1% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 52.8K | 5.8K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Benguela and Calumbo right now?
Calumbo has cleaner air than Benguela right now: AQI 54 (Moderate) against 56 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
BenguelaCalumbo
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).
Benguela: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Calumbo: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Calumbo averaged AQI 51 against 58, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 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
- Benguela1Calumbo5
- Average AQI
- Benguela58Calumbo51
- Worst day, AQI
- Benguela65Calumbo60
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Benguela | Calumbo |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 65 | 53 |
| Nov 6 | 61 | 60 |
| Nov 7 | 49 | 54 |
| Nov 8 | 56 | 53 |
| Nov 9 | 59 | 48 |
| Nov 10 | 59 | 39 |
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 Benguela and Calumbo today?
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Both are in the same EPA band today (Moderate), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Benguela and Calumbo compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Benguela's air is cleaner than 52% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Calumbo's is cleaner than 55%. Within Angola, that is 12% and 21% of its 35 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Benguela
- Beats 52%
- Calumbo
- Beats 55%
More tree cover than…
- Benguela
- Beats 14%
- Calumbo
- Beats 65%
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, Benguela or Calumbo?
Calumbo has lost more: about 201 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against under 1 ha around Benguela. 124 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.
No forest lost in any year.
Worst year: 2003, with 30 ha lost.
| Benguela | Calumbo | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | under 1 ha (better) | 201 ha |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | under 1 ha (better) | 124 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Not classified | Farms, pasture and plantations (61%) |
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.
Benguela
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Calumbo
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Benguela or Calumbo?
Calumbo has more tree cover: 28.1% of the land within 2 km of its center against 6.8% around Benguela, or about 85,807 trees against 15,488.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Benguela | Calumbo | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 15.5K | 85.8K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 52.8K | 5.8K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 341K kg | 1.9M kg (better) |
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
Benguela vs Calumbo: your questions answered
Is Calumbo cleaner than Benguela?
On air quality, yes, right now: Calumbo reads AQI 54 against 56, a gap of 2 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 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Calumbo averaged AQI 51 against 58, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Benguela and Calumbo today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Benguela reads AQI 56 and Calumbo reads AQI 54.
Which has lost more forest, Benguela or Calumbo?
Calumbo has lost more: about 201 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against under 1 ha around Benguela. 124 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Benguela or Calumbo?
Calumbo has more tree cover: 28.1% of the land within 2 km of its center against 6.8% around Benguela, or about 85,807 trees against 15,488. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Benguela and Calumbo need?
Benguela needs about 52,842 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Calumbo about 5,802 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Benguela and Calumbo 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 Benguela vs Calumbo 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 18, 2026 and Sep 1, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
Keep going
Compare them with somewhere else
Build your own
Compare Benguela with somewhere else
This place
Benguela