City report · Scotland, United Kingdom
Aberdeen Air quality today
Air quality in Aberdeen currently reads AQI 8 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Air quality right now
AQI 8
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 1.4
- tree cover
- 23.0%
- trees in this area
- 64.1K
- more trees needed
- 19.5K
Measured across a 1.2 mi (2 km) radius around Aberdeen, UK (4.9 sq mi), from a satellite image of Aug 24, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Aberdeen · AQI 8 (Good)
Aberdeen's tree count comes to 64,092 trees across 4.3 sq mi (11.15 km²) of land, 7 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 19,506 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Aberdeen today: AQI 8, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 13:00 local time via World Air Quality Index Project ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Aberdeen Market Street 2, United Kingdom, 0.2 mi (400 m) away · median of 2 stations
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
1.4
PM10
4.8
NO₂
—
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Air Quality in Scotland - latest data, forecasts and air quality information
- Outdoor exercise
- A good day to be active outside
- Windows
- Open them to air the house
- Mask
- Not needed
- Air purifier
- Not needed
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Aberdeen's daily AQI at 23 on average, from 11 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 52 on Nov 9.
This is the US EPA AQI. How it differs from the UK's Daily Air Quality Index
Where Aberdeen stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Aberdeen: Below target
23.0% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 4.3 sq mi (11.15 km²) of land.
Trees in this area
64,092
Target trees
83,598
More trees needed
19,506
CO₂ if planted / yr
429.1 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Aberdeen lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Aberdeen has lost about 428 hectares of forest (about 600 football pitches): 14% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it was lost to logging, so much of it can grow back. About 23 hectares (5.4%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns.
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km west of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 428 haabout 600 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 14%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 23 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2022, when about 87 hectares of forest were lost.
Hectares of forest lost each year
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Cleared for good | Can grow back | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2002 | 3 ha | 2 ha | 5 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2004 | 1 ha | 12 ha | 13 ha |
| 2005 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2006 | under 1 ha | 2 ha | 3 ha |
| 2007 | 2 ha | 35 ha | 37 ha |
| 2008 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2009 | under 1 ha | 14 ha | 14 ha |
| 2010 | under 1 ha | 17 ha | 18 ha |
| 2011 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2012 | under 1 ha | 13 ha | 13 ha |
| 2013 | under 1 ha | 4 ha | 4 ha |
| 2014 | 1 ha | 7 ha | 8 ha |
| 2015 | 6 ha | 20 ha | 26 ha |
| 2016 | 3 ha | 19 ha | 22 ha |
| 2017 | 2 ha | 12 ha | 14 ha |
| 2018 | under 1 ha | 11 ha | 11 ha |
| 2019 | 2 ha | 14 ha | 16 ha |
| 2020 | under 1 ha | 13 ha | 13 ha |
| 2021 | under 1 ha | 3 ha | 3 ha |
| 2022 | 1 ha | 86 ha | 87 ha |
| 2023 | under 1 ha | 22 ha | 23 ha |
| 2024 | under 1 ha | 69 ha | 69 ha |
| 2025 | under 1 ha | 28 ha | 28 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Aberdeen?
- Loggingcan grow back94% · 400 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good4.5% · 19 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown1.1% · 5 ha
Also: farms, pasture and plantations.
Causes for 2025 are estimates, based on what caused forest loss in the same places up to 2024.
Forest gained and lost, 2000–2020
- Forest in 2000
- 1,400 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 1,630 ha
- Overall change
- +227 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Aberdeen grew from about 1,400 hectares to 1,630 hectares, a net gain of about 227 hectares (+16%). New forest grew on about 360 hectares, while 133 hectares were lost.
These 2000 and 2020 maps, from the University of Maryland, count any land with trees taller than 5 m as forest, including plantations and orchards. Forest that was cut or burned and had grown back by 2020 counts in both years, so the loss here is smaller than the yearly figures.
These figures cover everything within 10 km of the city center, a wider area than the report above, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
Source: Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA, Global Forest Change (GFC-2025-v1.13); causes: WRI/Google DeepMind drivers of forest loss; both CC BY 4.0, summed by Airleaf for each area. Forest gained and lost 2000–2020: Potapov et al. 2022, UMD GLAD Global Land Cover and Land Use Change, CC BY 4.0. Images: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data. How it's measured
In the same region
Measured cities near Aberdeen
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Dundee92.1 km
United Kingdom
- Tree cover
- 23%
- Air quality
- 9
- Edinburgh148.6 km
United Kingdom
- Tree cover
- 31%
- Air quality
- 53
- Glasgow194.3 km
United Kingdom
- Tree cover
- 20%
- Air quality
- 66
- Newcastle upon Tyne243.2 km
United Kingdom
- Tree cover
- 25%
- Air quality
- 63
- Sunderland252.9 km
United Kingdom
- Tree cover
- 18%
- Air quality
- 16
- Middlesbrough290.5 km
United Kingdom
- Tree cover
- 13%
- Air quality
- 51
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Frequently asked
Questions about Aberdeen
What is the air quality (AQI) in Aberdeen right now?
The latest reading for Aberdeen shows an AQI of 8 (Good), measured Nov 11, 13:00 local time by 2 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Aberdeen Market Street 2, United Kingdom, 0.2 mi (400 m) away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Aberdeen today?
At AQI 8 (Good): a good day to be active outside. Windows: open them to air the house. Masks: not needed. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Aberdeen been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Aberdeen's daily AQI at 23 on average, from 11 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 52 on Nov 9. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Is Aberdeen's AQI the same as the UK's Daily Air Quality Index?
No. Airleaf shows the US EPA Air Quality Index (AQI), the scale used by IQAir and most air-quality apps. The UK's Daily Air Quality Index (DAQI), published by Defra, runs from 1 to 10: 1–3 low, 4–6 moderate, 7–9 high and 10 very high. It is a different scale altogether, so a US AQI figure can't be read on it directly; both, though, are built from the same main pollutants, with fine particles (PM2.5) usually the one that decides the reading.
How much forest has the area around Aberdeen lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Aberdeen has lost about 428 hectares of forest (about 600 football pitches): 14% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it was lost to logging, so much of it can grow back. About 23 hectares (5.4%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Aberdeen grew from about 1,400 hectares to 1,630 hectares, a net gain of about 227 hectares (+16%). New forest grew on about 360 hectares, while 133 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Aberdeen?
Aberdeen has an estimated 64,092 trees across the 4.3 sq mi (11.15 km²) of land measured — 23.0% tree cover, 7 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Aberdeen need?
Aberdeen needs roughly 19,506 more trees to close a 7-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 429.1 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Aberdeen's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Aberdeen, via OpenAQ; the 7-day trend is the Open-Meteo / CAMS model's estimate. Tree cover is measured from Sentinel-2 L2A (ESA Copernicus) via Earth Search satellite imagery at 10 m detail across a 1.2 mi (2 km) radius around Aberdeen; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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