City report · South Ethiopia Regional State, Ethiopia
Arba Minch Air quality today
Air quality in Arba Minch currently reads AQI 39 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 39
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 6.8
- tree cover
- 20.0%
- trees in this area
- 62.8K
- more trees needed
- 31.4K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Sikela, Arba Minch, Ethiopia (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 14, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Arba Minch · AQI 39 (Good)
Arba Minch's tree count comes to 62,832 trees across 12.57 km², 10 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 31,416 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Arba Minch today: AQI 39, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 12:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Model estimate · no ground station nearby
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
6.8
PM10
7.1
NO₂
0.4
O₃
73.0
SO₂
0.5
CO
241.0
- 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 Arba Minch's daily AQI at 57 on average, from 48 on Nov 11 to an hourly peak of 73 on Nov 5.
Where Arba Minch stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Arba Minch: Below target
20.0% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
62,832
Target trees
94,248
More trees needed
31,416
CO₂ if planted / yr
691.2 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Arba Minch lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Arba Minch has lost about 106 hectares of forest (about 150 football pitches): 2.9% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (56%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 106 haabout 150 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 2.9%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 59 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2013, when about 14 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 | 2 ha | 3 ha | 5 ha |
| 2002 | 8 ha | 2 ha | 10 ha |
| 2003 | 3 ha | 3 ha | 6 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2005 | under 1 ha | 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2006 | under 1 ha | 4 ha | 4 ha |
| 2007 | under 1 ha | 2 ha | 3 ha |
| 2008 | 6 ha | 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2009 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2010 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2011 | 2 ha | 8 ha | 10 ha |
| 2012 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2013 | 12 ha | 1 ha | 14 ha |
| 2014 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2015 | under 1 ha | 2 ha | 2 ha |
| 2016 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2017 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2018 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2019 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2020 | under 1 ha | 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2021 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2022 | 3 ha | 8 ha | 11 ha |
| 2023 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2024 | 3 ha | 2 ha | 5 ha |
| 2025 | 1 ha | 2 ha | 3 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Arba Minch?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good55% · 58 ha
- Storms, floods and other natural causescan grow back33% · 35 ha
- Loggingcan grow back1.8% · 2 ha
Also: towns and roads, unknown causes.
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
- 10,500 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 10,100 ha
- Overall change
- −433 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Arba Minch shrank from about 10,500 hectares to 10,100 hectares, a net loss of about 433 hectares (−4.1%). New forest grew on about 81 hectares, but 514 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
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Frequently asked
Questions about Arba Minch
What is the air quality (AQI) in Arba Minch right now?
The latest reading for Arba Minch shows an AQI of 39 (Good), observed Nov 11, 12:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Arba Minch today?
At AQI 39 (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 Arba Minch been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Arba Minch's daily AQI at 57 on average, from 48 on Nov 11 to an hourly peak of 73 on Nov 5. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Arba Minch lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Arba Minch has lost about 106 hectares of forest (about 150 football pitches): 2.9% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (56%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Arba Minch shrank from about 10,500 hectares to 10,100 hectares, a net loss of about 433 hectares (−4.1%). New forest grew on about 81 hectares, but 514 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Arba Minch?
Arba Minch has an estimated 62,832 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 20.0% tree cover, 10 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Arba Minch need?
Arba Minch needs roughly 31,416 more trees to close a 10-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 691.2 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Arba Minch's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality comes from ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ where one reports nearby, and otherwise, as here, from the Open-Meteo / CAMS model, which may differ from street-level monitors. Tree cover is measured from Sentinel-2 L2A (ESA Copernicus) via Earth Search satellite imagery at 10 m detail across a 2 km radius around Sikela; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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