Air quality comparison · Lebanon, 36 km apart
Sidon vs Tyre Air quality index (AQI) today
Sidon has cleaner air than Tyre right now: AQI 36 (Good) against 76 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Tyre averaged AQI 32 against 44, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Tyre has lost more forest since 2001. Sidon has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Sidon36Tyre76
Head to head
Sidon vs Tyre at a glance
Sidon is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Tyre on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Sidon | Tyre | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 36 (better) | 76 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 6.4 (better) | 22.6 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 44 | 32 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 63 ha (better) | 120 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 21.6% (better) | 13.8% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 16.3K | 9.2K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Sidon and Tyre right now?
Sidon has cleaner air than Tyre right now: AQI 36 (Good) against 76 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Tyre's PM2.5 is about 1.5× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
SidonTyre
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).
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Tyre averaged AQI 32 against 44, 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
- Sidon0Tyre6
- Average AQI
- Sidon44Tyre32
- Worst day, AQI
- Sidon55Tyre43
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Sidon | Tyre |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 55 | 40 |
| Nov 6 | 38 | 27 |
| Nov 7 | 35 | 23 |
| Nov 8 | 36 | 23 |
| Nov 9 | 49 | 35 |
| Nov 10 | 52 | 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 Sidon and Tyre today?
Sidon (AQI 36, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Tyre (AQI 76, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Sidon
- A good day to be active outside.
- Tyre
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Sidon
- Open them to air the house.
- Tyre
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Sidon
- Not needed.
- Tyre
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Sidon
- Not needed.
- Tyre
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Sidon and Tyre compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Sidon's air is cleaner than 73% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Tyre's is cleaner than 34%. Within Lebanon, that is 67% and 17% of its 7 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Sidon
- Beats 73%
- Tyre
- Beats 34%
More tree cover than…
- Sidon
- Beats 50%
- Tyre
- 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.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which has lost more forest, Sidon or Tyre?
Tyre has lost more: about 120 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 63 ha around Sidon. 118 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: 2023, with 10 ha lost.
Worst year: 2024, with 22 ha lost.
| Sidon | Tyre | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 63 ha (better) | 120 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 6.6% (better) | 9.1% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 61 ha (better) | 118 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (49%) | 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.
Sidon
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Tyre
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 5 km east of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Sidon or Tyre?
Sidon has more tree cover: 21.6% of the land within 2 km of its center against 13.8% around Tyre, or about 42,004 trees against 7,804.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Sidon | Tyre | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 42.0K (better) | 7.8K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 16.3K | 9.2K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 924K kg (better) | 172K 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
Sidon vs Tyre: your questions answered
Is Sidon cleaner than Tyre?
On air quality, yes, right now: Sidon reads AQI 36 against 76, a gap of 40 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, Tyre averaged AQI 32 against 44, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Sidon and Tyre today?
In Sidon, at AQI 36: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. In Tyre, at AQI 76: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Which has lost more forest, Sidon or Tyre?
Tyre has lost more: about 120 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 63 ha around Sidon. 118 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Sidon or Tyre?
Sidon has more tree cover: 21.6% of the land within 2 km of its center against 13.8% around Tyre, or about 42,004 trees against 7,804. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Sidon and Tyre need?
Sidon needs about 16,335 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Tyre about 9,161 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Why can two places 36 km apart read differently?
Air changes over short distances with traffic, industry, wind and hills, and each reading comes from the nearest ground stations or, where there are none, from a regional model. A gap of a few points between neighbors is within normal variation, while a gap that crosses an EPA band is worth noticing.
Are Sidon and Tyre 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 come from nearby ground stations. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Sidon vs Tyre 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 16, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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