Air quality comparison · Cameroon, 65 km apart
Kumba vs Nkongsamba Air quality index (AQI) today
Kumba has cleaner air than Nkongsamba right now: AQI 65 (Moderate) against 152 (Unhealthy).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Nkongsamba averaged AQI 53 against 58, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Kumba has lost more forest since 2001. Nkongsamba has more tree cover.
Cameroon
AQI 65
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 17.6 µg/m³1.2× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 10, 16:00 local
Cameroon
AQI 152
Unhealthy
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 62.2 µg/m³4.1× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 11, 00:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Kumba65Nkongsamba152
Head to head
Kumba vs Nkongsamba at a glance
Nkongsamba is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Kumba on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Kumba | Nkongsamba | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 65 (better) | 152 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 17.6 (better) | 62.2 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 58 | 53 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 3,370 ha | 747 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 26.8% | 51.9% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 10.1K | 0 (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Kumba and Nkongsamba right now?
Kumba has cleaner air than Nkongsamba right now: AQI 65 (Moderate) against 152 (Unhealthy). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Kumba's PM2.5 is about 1.2× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. Nkongsamba's PM2.5 is about 4.1× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
KumbaNkongsamba
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).
Kumba: Estimate · model corrected with 2 station cities within 245 km, e.g. Douala and Yaoundé. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 245 km, US EPA index.
Nkongsamba: Estimate · model corrected with 2 station cities within 225 km, e.g. Douala and Yaoundé. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 225 km, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Nkongsamba averaged AQI 53 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
- Kumba1Nkongsamba5
- Average AQI
- Kumba58Nkongsamba53
- Worst day, AQI
- Kumba73Nkongsamba62
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Kumba | Nkongsamba |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 67 | 62 |
| Nov 6 | 48 | 41 |
| Nov 7 | 57 | 53 |
| Nov 8 | 73 | 61 |
| Nov 9 | 67 | 59 |
| Nov 10 | 38 | 42 |
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 Kumba and Nkongsamba today?
Kumba (AQI 65, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Nkongsamba (AQI 152, Unhealthy): Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
Exercise outdoors
- Kumba
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
- Nkongsamba
- Everyone should cut down long or hard exercise; sensitive groups should avoid it.
Windows
- Kumba
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
- Nkongsamba
- Keep them closed.
Masks
- Kumba
- Not needed for most people.
- Nkongsamba
- Wear an N95 outdoors.
Air purifier
- Kumba
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
- Nkongsamba
- Run one.
Against everywhere else
How do Kumba and Nkongsamba compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Kumba's air is cleaner than 42% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Nkongsamba's is cleaner than 11%. Within Cameroon, that is 67% and 13% of its 16 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Kumba
- Beats 42%
- Nkongsamba
- Beats 11%
More tree cover than…
- Kumba
- Beats 62%
- Nkongsamba
- Beats 93%
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, Kumba or Nkongsamba?
Kumba has lost more: about 3,370 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 747 ha around Nkongsamba. 3,010 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 523 ha lost.
Worst year: 2023, with 75 ha lost.
| Kumba | Nkongsamba | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 3,370 ha | 747 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 12% | 2.5% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 3,010 ha | 532 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Slowing down | Speeding up |
| Main known cause | Farms, pasture and plantations (82%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (57%) |
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.
Kumba
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km southeast of the city center.
Nkongsamba
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km southwest of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Kumba or Nkongsamba?
Nkongsamba has more tree cover: 51.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 26.8% around Kumba, or about 163,049 trees against 84,195.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Kumba | Nkongsamba | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 84.2K | 163K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 10.1K | 0 (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.9M kg | 3.6M 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
Kumba vs Nkongsamba: your questions answered
Is Kumba cleaner than Nkongsamba?
On air quality, yes, right now: Kumba reads AQI 65 against 152, a gap of 87 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 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Nkongsamba averaged AQI 53 against 58, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Kumba and Nkongsamba today?
In Kumba, at AQI 65: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. In Nkongsamba, at AQI 152: Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
Which has lost more forest, Kumba or Nkongsamba?
Kumba has lost more: about 3,370 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 747 ha around Nkongsamba. 3,010 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Kumba or Nkongsamba?
Nkongsamba has more tree cover: 51.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 26.8% around Kumba, or about 163,049 trees against 84,195. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Kumba and Nkongsamba need?
Kumba needs about 10,053 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Nkongsamba about 0 to reach 40%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Kumba and Nkongsamba 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 Kumba vs Nkongsamba 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 (Jun 17, 2025 and Oct 7, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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