City report · Benguela, Angola
Balombo Air quality today
Air quality in Balombo currently reads AQI 30 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 30
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 6.0
- tree cover
- 15.6%
- trees in this area
- 49.0K
- more trees needed
- 45.2K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Balombo, Angola (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Oct 28, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Balombo · AQI 30 (Good)
Balombo's tree count comes to 49,009 trees across 12.57 km², 14 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 45,239 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Balombo today: AQI 30, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 19:00 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
6.0
PM10
6.2
NO₂
3.0
O₃
64.0
SO₂
0.9
CO
213.0
- 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 Balombo's daily AQI at 41 on average, from 27 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 69 on Nov 6.
Where Balombo stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Balombo: Critically low
15.6% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
49,009
Target trees
94,248
More trees needed
45,239
CO₂ if planted / yr
995.3 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Balombo lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Balombo has lost about 3,010 hectares of forest (about 4,200 football pitches): 23% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (99%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km southeast of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 3,010 haabout 4,200 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 23%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 2,990 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 131 hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 168 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2012, when about 565 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 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2002 | 30 ha | under 1 ha | 30 ha |
| 2003 | 56 ha | under 1 ha | 57 ha |
| 2004 | 29 ha | under 1 ha | 29 ha |
| 2005 | 49 ha | under 1 ha | 49 ha |
| 2006 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2007 | 113 ha | under 1 ha | 113 ha |
| 2008 | 39 ha | under 1 ha | 39 ha |
| 2009 | 66 ha | under 1 ha | 66 ha |
| 2010 | 67 ha | under 1 ha | 67 ha |
| 2011 | 292 ha | under 1 ha | 292 ha |
| 2012 | 556 ha | 9 ha | 565 ha |
| 2013 | 53 ha | under 1 ha | 53 ha |
| 2014 | 76 ha | under 1 ha | 76 ha |
| 2015 | 75 ha | under 1 ha | 75 ha |
| 2016 | 115 ha | under 1 ha | 115 ha |
| 2017 | 347 ha | 1 ha | 348 ha |
| 2018 | 151 ha | under 1 ha | 151 ha |
| 2019 | 96 ha | under 1 ha | 97 ha |
| 2020 | 126 ha | 1 ha | 127 ha |
| 2021 | 171 ha | under 1 ha | 171 ha |
| 2022 | 117 ha | 1 ha | 118 ha |
| 2023 | 119 ha | 2 ha | 121 ha |
| 2024 | 115 ha | 1 ha | 116 ha |
| 2025 | 123 ha | 4 ha | 127 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Balombo?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good99% · 2,990 ha
Also: shifting farming, 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
- 8,680 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 6,750 ha
- Overall change
- −1,930 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Balombo shrank from about 8,680 hectares to 6,750 hectares, a net loss of about 1,930 hectares (−22%). New forest grew on about 695 hectares, but 2,630 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 Balombo
What is the air quality (AQI) in Balombo right now?
The latest reading for Balombo shows an AQI of 30 (Good), observed Nov 10, 19:00 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 Balombo today?
At AQI 30 (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 Balombo been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Balombo's daily AQI at 41 on average, from 27 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 69 on Nov 6. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Balombo lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Balombo has lost about 3,010 hectares of forest (about 4,200 football pitches): 23% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (99%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 131 hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 168 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Balombo shrank from about 8,680 hectares to 6,750 hectares, a net loss of about 1,930 hectares (−22%). New forest grew on about 695 hectares, but 2,630 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Balombo?
Balombo has an estimated 49,009 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 15.6% tree cover, 14 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Balombo need?
Balombo needs roughly 45,239 more trees to close a 14-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 995.3 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Balombo'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 Balombo; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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