Air quality comparison · Nigeria, 820 km apart
Kano vs Port Harcourt Air quality index (AQI) today
Kano has cleaner air than Port Harcourt right now: AQI 65 (Moderate) against 85 (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, Port Harcourt averaged AQI 76 against 181, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. Port Harcourt has lost more forest since 2001. Port Harcourt has more tree cover.
Nigeria
AQI 65
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 14.1 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 10, 16:00 local
Nigeria
AQI 85
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 27.6 µg/m³1.8× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 19:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Kano65Port Harcourt85
Head to head
Kano vs Port Harcourt at a glance
Kano and Port Harcourt are level, each ahead on 3 of 6 measures. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Kano | Port Harcourt | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 65 (better) | 85 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 14.1 (better) | 27.6 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 181 | 76 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | under 1 ha (better) | 135 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 1.7% | 12.6% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 88.8K | 45.9K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Kano and Port Harcourt right now?
Kano has cleaner air than Port Harcourt right now: AQI 65 (Moderate) against 85 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Port Harcourt's PM2.5 is about 1.8× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Port Harcourt is read from a nearby ground station and Kano is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
KanoPort Harcourt
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).
Kano: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Port Harcourt: Ground station · Ohaeto Street, Dline Port Harcourt, Rivers State, 2.6 km away. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Media Awareness and Justice Initiative.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Port Harcourt averaged AQI 76 against 181, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 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
- Kano0Port Harcourt7
- Average AQI
- Kano181Port Harcourt76
- Worst day, AQI
- Kano208Port Harcourt87
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Kano | Port Harcourt |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 189 | 87 |
| Nov 5 | 208 | 78 |
| Nov 6 | 181 | 70 |
| Nov 7 | 175 | 73 |
| Nov 8 | 195 | 71 |
| Nov 9 | 179 | 83 |
| Nov 10 | 140 | 72 |
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 Kano and Port Harcourt 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 Kano and Port Harcourt compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Kano's air is cleaner than 42% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Port Harcourt's is cleaner than 28%. Within Nigeria, that is 63% and 27% of its 99 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Kano
- Beats 42%
- Port Harcourt
- Beats 28%
More tree cover than…
- Kano
- Beats 3%
- Port Harcourt
- Beats 28%
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, Kano or Port Harcourt?
Port Harcourt has lost more: about 135 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against under 1 ha around Kano. 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: 2014, with 30 ha lost.
| Kano | Port Harcourt | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | under 1 ha (better) | 135 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 | Towns and roads (56%) |
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.
Kano
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Port Harcourt
2018: satellite photo from January 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Kano or Port Harcourt?
Port Harcourt has more tree cover: 12.6% of the land within 2 km of its center against 1.7% around Kano, or about 33,251 trees against 5,335.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Kano | Port Harcourt | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 5.3K | 33.3K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 88.8K | 45.9K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 117K kg | 732K 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
Kano vs Port Harcourt: your questions answered
Is Kano cleaner than Port Harcourt?
On air quality, yes, right now: Kano reads AQI 65 against 85, a gap of 20 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, Port Harcourt averaged AQI 76 against 181, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Kano and Port Harcourt today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Kano reads AQI 65 and Port Harcourt reads AQI 85.
Which has lost more forest, Kano or Port Harcourt?
Port Harcourt has lost more: about 135 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against under 1 ha around Kano. 124 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Kano or Port Harcourt?
Port Harcourt has more tree cover: 12.6% of the land within 2 km of its center against 1.7% around Kano, or about 33,251 trees against 5,335. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Kano and Port Harcourt need?
Kano needs about 88,818 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Port Harcourt about 45,918 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Kano and Port Harcourt 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. Port Harcourt is read from a nearby ground station and Kano is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Kano vs Port Harcourt 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 28, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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