Air quality comparison · Ethiopia, 551 km apart
Mek'ele vs Nazrēt Air quality index (AQI) today
Nazrēt has cleaner air than Mek'ele right now: AQI 36 (Good) against 60 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Mek'ele averaged AQI 50 against 52, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days. Mek'ele has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Mek'ele60Nazrēt36
Head to head
Mek'ele vs Nazrēt at a glance
Mek'ele is ahead on 3 of 5 measures, and Nazrēt on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Mek'ele | Nazrēt | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 60 | 36 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 13 | 8 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 50 (better) | 52 |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 17.5% (better) | 13.6% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 39.3K (better) | 51.5K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Mek'ele and Nazrēt right now?
Nazrēt has cleaner air than Mek'ele right now: AQI 36 (Good) against 60 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
Mek'eleNazrēt
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).
Mek'ele: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Nazrēt: 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?
But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Mek'ele averaged AQI 50 against 52, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 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
- Mek'ele4Nazrēt1
- Average AQI
- Mek'ele50Nazrēt52
- Worst day, AQI
- Mek'ele58Nazrēt63
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Mek'ele | Nazrēt |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 58 | 63 |
| Nov 6 | 50 | 52 |
| Nov 7 | 44 | 50 |
| Nov 8 | 52 | 52 |
| Nov 9 | 49 | 51 |
| Nov 10 | 47 | 43 |
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 Mek'ele and Nazrēt today?
Mek'ele (AQI 60, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Nazrēt (AQI 36, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Exercise outdoors
- Mek'ele
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
- Nazrēt
- A good day to be active outside.
Windows
- Mek'ele
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
- Nazrēt
- Open them to air the house.
Masks
- Mek'ele
- Not needed for most people.
- Nazrēt
- Not needed.
Air purifier
- Mek'ele
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
- Nazrēt
- Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do Mek'ele and Nazrēt compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Mek'ele's air is cleaner than 47% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Nazrēt's is cleaner than 73%. Within Ethiopia, that is 38% and 79% of its 30 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Mek'ele
- Beats 47%
- Nazrēt
- Beats 73%
More tree cover than…
- Mek'ele
- Beats 40%
- Nazrēt
- Beats 31%
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.
Mek'ele
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Nazrēt
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Mek'ele or Nazrēt?
Mek'ele has more tree cover: 17.5% of the land within 2 km of its center against 13.6% around Nazrēt, or about 54,978 trees against 42,726.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Mek'ele | Nazrēt | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 55.0K (better) | 42.7K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 39.3K (better) | 51.5K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.2M kg (better) | 940K 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
Mek'ele vs Nazrēt: your questions answered
Is Nazrēt cleaner than Mek'ele?
On air quality, yes, right now: Nazrēt reads AQI 36 against 60, a gap of 24 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, Mek'ele averaged AQI 50 against 52, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Mek'ele and Nazrēt today?
In Mek'ele, at AQI 60: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. In Nazrēt, at AQI 36: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Which has more trees, Mek'ele or Nazrēt?
Mek'ele has more tree cover: 17.5% of the land within 2 km of its center against 13.6% around Nazrēt, or about 54,978 trees against 42,726. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Mek'ele and Nazrēt need?
Mek'ele needs about 39,270 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Nazrēt about 51,522 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Mek'ele and Nazrēt 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 Mek'ele vs Nazrēt 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 9, 2026 and Sep 11, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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