Air quality comparison · Papua New Guinea, 307 km apart
Lae vs Port Moresby Air quality index (AQI) today
Lae has cleaner air than Port Moresby right now: AQI 15 (Good) against 27 (Good).
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, Lae averaged AQI 33 against 34, and it was the cleaner of the two on 3 of those days. Lae has lost more forest since 2001. Lae has more tree cover.
Papua New Guinea
AQI 15
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 2.5 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 11, 02:00 local
Papua New Guinea
AQI 27
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 5.3 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 10, 19:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Lae15Port Moresby27
Head to head
Lae vs Port Moresby at a glance
Lae is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Port Moresby on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Lae | Port Moresby | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 15 (better) | 27 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 2.5 (better) | 5.3 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 33 (better) | 34 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 1,510 ha | 69 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 36.3% (better) | 21.7% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 0 (better) | 8.8K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Lae and Port Moresby right now?
Lae has cleaner air than Port Moresby right now: AQI 15 (Good) against 27 (Good). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
LaePort Moresby
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).
Lae: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Port Moresby: 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, Lae averaged AQI 33 against 34, 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
- Lae3Port Moresby3
- Average AQI
- Lae33Port Moresby34
- Worst day, AQI
- Lae42Port Moresby45
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Lae | Port Moresby |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 31 | 38 |
| Nov 6 | 35 | 45 |
| Nov 7 | 29 | 32 |
| Nov 8 | 42 | 32 |
| Nov 9 | 33 | 29 |
| Nov 10 | 28 | 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 Lae and Port Moresby today?
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Both are in the same EPA band today (Good), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
A good day to be active outside.
Windows
Open them to air the house.
Masks
Not needed.
Air purifier
Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do Lae and Port Moresby compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Lae's air is cleaner than 93% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Port Moresby's is cleaner than 82%. Within Papua New Guinea, that is 75% and 25% of its 5 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Lae
- Beats 93%
- Port Moresby
- Beats 82%
More tree cover than…
- Lae
- Beats 79%
- Port Moresby
- Beats 51%
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, Lae or Port Moresby?
Lae has lost more: about 1,510 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 69 ha around Port Moresby. 785 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 155 ha lost.
Worst year: 2024, with 12 ha lost.
| Lae | Port Moresby | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 1,510 ha | 69 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 10% | 6.9% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 785 ha | 56 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Slowing down | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Farms, pasture and plantations (46%) | Towns and roads (78%) |
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.
Lae
2017: satellite photo from December 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 6 km west of the city center.
Port Moresby
2017: satellite photo from November 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northwest of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Lae or Port Moresby?
Lae has more tree cover: 36.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 21.7% around Port Moresby, or about 113,356 trees against 22,974.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Lae | Port Moresby | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 113K (better) | 23.0K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 0 (better) | 8.8K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 2.5M kg (better) | 505K 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
Lae vs Port Moresby: your questions answered
Is Lae cleaner than Port Moresby?
On air quality, yes, right now: Lae reads AQI 15 against 27, a gap of 12 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, Lae averaged AQI 33 against 34, and it was the cleaner of the two on 3 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Lae and Port Moresby today?
The advice is the same for both today. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Lae reads AQI 15 and Port Moresby reads AQI 27.
Which has lost more forest, Lae or Port Moresby?
Lae has lost more: about 1,510 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 69 ha around Port Moresby. 785 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Lae or Port Moresby?
Lae has more tree cover: 36.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 21.7% around Port Moresby, or about 113,356 trees against 22,974. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Lae and Port Moresby need?
Lae needs about 0 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Port Moresby about 8,787 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Lae and Port Moresby 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 Lae vs Port Moresby 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 7, 2026 and Sep 17, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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