Air quality comparison · Yemen, 198 km apart
Sanaa vs Taiz Air quality index (AQI) today
Taiz has cleaner air than Sanaa right now: AQI 32 (Good) against 42 (Good).
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, Sanaa averaged AQI 38 against 87, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Taiz has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Sanaa42Taiz32
Head to head
Sanaa vs Taiz at a glance
Taiz is ahead on 4 of 5 measures, and Sanaa on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Sanaa | Taiz | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 42 | 32 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 7 | 6.3 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 38 (better) | 87 |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 2.5% | 6.7% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 86.4K | 73.2K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Sanaa and Taiz right now?
Taiz has cleaner air than Sanaa right now: AQI 32 (Good) against 42 (Good). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
SanaaTaiz
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).
Sanaa: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Taiz: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Sanaa averaged AQI 38 against 87, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 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
- Sanaa6Taiz1
- Average AQI
- Sanaa38Taiz87
- Worst day, AQI
- Sanaa49Taiz134
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Sanaa | Taiz |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 49 | 102 |
| Nov 6 | 48 | 129 |
| Nov 7 | 27 | 134 |
| Nov 8 | 28 | 103 |
| Nov 9 | 31 | 51 |
| Nov 10 | 38 | 54 |
| Nov 11 | 44 | 37 |
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 Sanaa and Taiz 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 Sanaa and Taiz compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Sanaa's air is cleaner than 68% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Taiz's is cleaner than 77%. Within Yemen, that is 50% and 100% of its 7 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Sanaa
- Beats 68%
- Taiz
- Beats 77%
More tree cover than…
- Sanaa
- Beats 5%
- Taiz
- Beats 13%
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.
Sanaa
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Taiz
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Sanaa or Taiz?
Taiz has more tree cover: 6.7% of the land within 2 km of its center against 2.5% around Sanaa, or about 21,049 trees against 7,854.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Sanaa | Taiz | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 7.9K | 21.0K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 86.4K | 73.2K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 173K kg | 463K 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
Sanaa vs Taiz: your questions answered
Is Taiz cleaner than Sanaa?
On air quality, yes, right now: Taiz reads AQI 32 against 42, a gap of 10 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, Sanaa averaged AQI 38 against 87, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Sanaa and Taiz today?
The advice is the same for both today. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Sanaa reads AQI 42 and Taiz reads AQI 32.
Which has more trees, Sanaa or Taiz?
Taiz has more tree cover: 6.7% of the land within 2 km of its center against 2.5% around Sanaa, or about 21,049 trees against 7,854. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Sanaa and Taiz need?
Sanaa needs about 86,394 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Taiz about 73,199 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Sanaa and Taiz 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 Sanaa vs Taiz 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 16, 2026 and Sep 18, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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