Air quality comparison · Bhutan, 75 km apart
Phuntsholing vs Tsirang Air quality index (AQI) today
Tsirang has cleaner air than Phuntsholing right now: AQI 13 (Good) against 73 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Tsirang averaged AQI 47 against 103, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. Phuntsholing has lost more forest since 2001. Tsirang has more tree cover.
Bhutan
AQI 73
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 21.1 µg/m³1.4× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 23:00 local
Bhutan
AQI 13
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 2.7 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 11, 02:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Phuntsholing73Tsirang13
Head to head
Phuntsholing vs Tsirang at a glance
Tsirang is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Phuntsholing on 0. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Phuntsholing | Tsirang | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 73 | 13 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 21.1 | 2.7 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 103 | 47 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 953 ha | 691 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 61.0% | 77.5% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 0 | 0 |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Phuntsholing and Tsirang right now?
Tsirang has cleaner air than Phuntsholing right now: AQI 13 (Good) against 73 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Phuntsholing's PM2.5 is about 1.4× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Phuntsholing is read from a nearby ground station and Tsirang is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
PhuntsholingTsirang
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).
Phuntsholing: Ground station · CST, 500 m away · median of 7 stations. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Bharat.
Tsirang: Estimate · model corrected with 2 station cities within 85 km, e.g. Phuentsholing and Jalpaiguri Division. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 85 km, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Tsirang averaged AQI 47 against 103, 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
- Phuntsholing0Tsirang7
- Average AQI
- Phuntsholing103Tsirang47
- Worst day, AQI
- Phuntsholing138Tsirang64
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Phuntsholing | Tsirang |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 117 | 51 |
| Nov 6 | 129 | 64 |
| Nov 7 | 138 | 62 |
| Nov 8 | 88 | 46 |
| Nov 9 | 76 | 44 |
| Nov 10 | 72 | 32 |
| Nov 11 | 102 | 27 |
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 Phuntsholing and Tsirang today?
Phuntsholing (AQI 73, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Tsirang (AQI 13, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Exercise outdoors
- Phuntsholing
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
- Tsirang
- A good day to be active outside.
Windows
- Phuntsholing
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
- Tsirang
- Open them to air the house.
Masks
- Phuntsholing
- Not needed for most people.
- Tsirang
- Not needed.
Air purifier
- Phuntsholing
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
- Tsirang
- Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do Phuntsholing and Tsirang compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Phuntsholing's air is cleaner than 35% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Tsirang's is cleaner than 95%.
Cleaner air than…
- Phuntsholing
- Beats 35%
- Tsirang
- Beats 95%
More tree cover than…
- Phuntsholing
- Beats 97%
- Tsirang
- Beats 99%
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, Phuntsholing or Tsirang?
Phuntsholing has lost more: about 953 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 691 ha around Tsirang. 590 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 321 ha lost.
Worst year: 2010, with 209 ha lost.
| Phuntsholing | Tsirang | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 953 ha | 691 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 5.8% | 2.9% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 590 ha (better) | 618 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Farms, pasture and plantations (46%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (82%) |
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.
Phuntsholing
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northeast of the city center.
Tsirang
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km west of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Phuntsholing or Tsirang?
Tsirang has more tree cover: 77.5% of the land within 2 km of its center against 61.0% around Phuntsholing, or about 243,473 trees against 191,637.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Phuntsholing | Tsirang | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 192K | 243K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 0 | 0 |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 4.2M kg | 5.4M 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
Phuntsholing vs Tsirang: your questions answered
Is Tsirang cleaner than Phuntsholing?
On air quality, yes, right now: Tsirang reads AQI 13 against 73, a gap of 60 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 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Tsirang averaged AQI 47 against 103, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Phuntsholing and Tsirang today?
In Phuntsholing, at AQI 73: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. In Tsirang, at AQI 13: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Which has lost more forest, Phuntsholing or Tsirang?
Phuntsholing has lost more: about 953 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 691 ha around Tsirang. 590 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Phuntsholing or Tsirang?
Tsirang has more tree cover: 77.5% of the land within 2 km of its center against 61.0% around Phuntsholing, or about 243,473 trees against 191,637. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Phuntsholing and Tsirang need?
Phuntsholing needs about 0 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Tsirang about 0 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Phuntsholing and Tsirang 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. Phuntsholing is read from a nearby ground station and Tsirang 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 Phuntsholing vs Tsirang 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 25, 2026 and Oct 25, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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