Air quality comparison · Bangladesh, 159 km apart
Gazipur vs Khulna Air quality index (AQI) today
Khulna has cleaner air than Gazipur right now: AQI 68 (Moderate) against 124 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Khulna averaged AQI 145 against 155, and it was the cleaner of the two on 3 of those days. Gazipur has lost more forest since 2001. Gazipur has more tree cover.
Bangladesh
AQI 124
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 45 µg/m³3.0× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 23:00 local
Bangladesh
AQI 68
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 18.4 µg/m³1.2× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 22:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Gazipur124Khulna68
Head to head
Gazipur vs Khulna at a glance
Khulna is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Gazipur on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Gazipur | Khulna | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 124 | 68 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 45 | 18.4 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 155 | 145 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 30 ha | 2 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 61.7% (better) | 38.9% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 0 | 0 |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Gazipur and Khulna right now?
Khulna has cleaner air than Gazipur right now: AQI 68 (Moderate) against 124 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Gazipur's PM2.5 is about 3.0× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. Khulna's PM2.5 is about 1.2× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
GazipurKhulna
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).
Gazipur: Ground station · Kaliganj | Gazipur | Smart Air Bangladesh, 16.1 km away · median of 10 stations. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Smart Air Bangladesh, RAJUK Uttara Apartment Project.
Khulna: Ground station · Khulna City | Smart Air Bangladesh, 1.3 km away. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Smart Air Bangladesh.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Khulna averaged AQI 145 against 155, and it was the cleaner of the two on 3 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
- Gazipur3Khulna3
- Average AQI
- Gazipur155Khulna145
- Worst day, AQI
- Gazipur168Khulna168
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Gazipur | Khulna |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 139 | 150 |
| Nov 6 | 140 | 153 |
| Nov 7 | 163 | 168 |
| Nov 8 | 168 | 162 |
| Nov 9 | 153 | 147 |
| Nov 10 | 166 | 91 |
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 Gazipur and Khulna today?
Gazipur (AQI 124, Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Khulna (AQI 68, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Gazipur
- Children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise.
- Khulna
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Gazipur
- Close them to keep the outside air out.
- Khulna
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Gazipur
- Sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors.
- Khulna
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Gazipur
- Run one, especially in bedrooms.
- Khulna
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Gazipur and Khulna compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Gazipur's air is cleaner than 15% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Khulna's is cleaner than 39%. Within Bangladesh, that is 48% and 73% of its 45 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Gazipur
- Beats 15%
- Khulna
- Beats 39%
More tree cover than…
- Gazipur
- Beats 97%
- Khulna
- Beats 82%
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, Gazipur or Khulna?
Gazipur has lost more: about 30 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 2 ha around Khulna. 6 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: 2010, with 8 ha lost.
Worst year: 2018, with under 1 ha lost.
| Gazipur | Khulna | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 30 ha | 2 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 2.3% | under 1% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 6 ha | 1 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Logging (60%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (29%) |
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.
Gazipur
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Khulna
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Gazipur or Khulna?
Gazipur has more tree cover: 61.7% of the land within 2 km of its center against 38.9% around Khulna, or about 193,061 trees against 108,887.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Gazipur | Khulna | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 193K (better) | 109K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 0 | 0 |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 4.2M kg (better) | 2.4M 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
Gazipur vs Khulna: your questions answered
Is Khulna cleaner than Gazipur?
On air quality, yes, right now: Khulna reads AQI 68 against 124, a gap of 56 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, Khulna averaged AQI 145 against 155, and it was the cleaner of the two on 3 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Gazipur and Khulna today?
In Gazipur, at AQI 124: Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity. In Khulna, at AQI 68: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Which has lost more forest, Gazipur or Khulna?
Gazipur has lost more: about 30 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 2 ha around Khulna. 6 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Gazipur or Khulna?
Gazipur has more tree cover: 61.7% of the land within 2 km of its center against 38.9% around Khulna, or about 193,061 trees against 108,887. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Gazipur and Khulna need?
Gazipur needs about 0 more to reach its canopy target of 35%, and Khulna about 0 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Gazipur and Khulna 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 come from nearby ground stations. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Gazipur vs Khulna 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 17, 2026 and Oct 12, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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