Air quality comparison · Iraq, 398 km apart
Erbil vs Karbala Air quality index (AQI) today
Karbala has cleaner air than Erbil right now: AQI 57 (Moderate) against 58 (Moderate).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Erbil averaged AQI 59 against 72, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Karbala has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Erbil58Karbala57
Head to head
Erbil vs Karbala at a glance
Karbala is ahead on 3 of 5 measures, and Erbil on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Erbil | Karbala | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 58 | 57 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 12.5 (better) | 13.8 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 59 (better) | 72 |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 5.0% | 10.6% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 78.5K | 60.9K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Erbil and Karbala right now?
Karbala has cleaner air than Erbil right now: AQI 57 (Moderate) against 58 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
ErbilKarbala
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).
Erbil: Estimate · model corrected with 2 station cities within 185 km, e.g. Sulaymaniyah and Silopi. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 185 km, US EPA index.
Karbala: Estimate · model corrected with 2 station cities within 105 km, e.g. Baghdad and Baghdad. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 105 km, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Erbil averaged AQI 59 against 72, 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
- Erbil5Karbala2
- Average AQI
- Erbil59Karbala72
- Worst day, AQI
- Erbil76Karbala105
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Erbil | Karbala |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 69 | 84 |
| Nov 5 | 76 | 96 |
| Nov 6 | 66 | 94 |
| Nov 7 | 56 | 105 |
| Nov 8 | 53 | 72 |
| Nov 9 | 48 | 26 |
| Nov 10 | 43 | 25 |
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 Erbil and Karbala 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 Erbil and Karbala compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Erbil's air is cleaner than 50% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Karbala's is cleaner than 51%. Within Iraq, that is 65% and 73% of its 49 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Erbil
- Beats 50%
- Karbala
- Beats 51%
More tree cover than…
- Erbil
- Beats 10%
- Karbala
- Beats 23%
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.
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.
Erbil
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Karbala
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Erbil or Karbala?
Karbala has more tree cover: 10.6% of the land within 2 km of its center against 5.0% around Erbil, or about 33,301 trees against 15,708.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Erbil | Karbala | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 15.7K | 33.3K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 78.5K | 60.9K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 346K kg | 733K 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
Erbil vs Karbala: your questions answered
Is Karbala cleaner than Erbil?
On air quality, yes, right now: Karbala reads AQI 57 against 58, a gap of 1 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Erbil averaged AQI 59 against 72, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Erbil and Karbala today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Erbil reads AQI 58 and Karbala reads AQI 57.
Which has more trees, Erbil or Karbala?
Karbala has more tree cover: 10.6% of the land within 2 km of its center against 5.0% around Erbil, or about 33,301 trees against 15,708. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Erbil and Karbala need?
Erbil needs about 78,540 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Karbala about 60,947 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Erbil and Karbala 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 Erbil vs Karbala 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 (Sep 17, 2026 and Sep 19, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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