City report · Maranhão, Brazil
Balsas Air quality today
Air quality in Balsas currently reads AQI 24 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 24
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 3.9
- tree cover
- 16.5%
- trees in this area
- 51.8K
- more trees needed
- 42.4K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Balsas, Maranhão, 65800-000, Brazil (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 23, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Balsas · AQI 24 (Good)
Balsas's tree count comes to 51,836 trees across 12.57 km², 13 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 42,411 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Balsas today: AQI 24, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 16:00 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
3.9
PM10
4.5
NO₂
0.8
O₃
78.0
SO₂
0.3
CO
156.0
- 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 Balsas's daily AQI at 63 on average, from 52 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 85 on Nov 6.
Where Balsas stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Balsas: Critically low
16.5% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
51,836
Target trees
94,247
More trees needed
42,411
CO₂ if planted / yr
933.0 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Balsas lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Balsas has lost about 1,850 hectares of forest (about 2,600 football pitches): 20% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (96%) 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 west of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 1,850 haabout 2,600 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 20%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 1,770 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Forest loss is speeding up: about 120 hectares a year in 2021–2025, up from 86 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2016, when about 218 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 | 82 ha | under 1 ha | 83 ha |
| 2002 | 20 ha | under 1 ha | 20 ha |
| 2003 | 37 ha | under 1 ha | 37 ha |
| 2004 | 87 ha | under 1 ha | 88 ha |
| 2005 | 60 ha | under 1 ha | 60 ha |
| 2006 | 13 ha | under 1 ha | 13 ha |
| 2007 | 32 ha | under 1 ha | 32 ha |
| 2008 | 77 ha | under 1 ha | 78 ha |
| 2009 | 56 ha | under 1 ha | 56 ha |
| 2010 | 63 ha | under 1 ha | 63 ha |
| 2011 | 24 ha | 2 ha | 26 ha |
| 2012 | 73 ha | 2 ha | 74 ha |
| 2013 | 30 ha | under 1 ha | 30 ha |
| 2014 | 98 ha | 4 ha | 102 ha |
| 2015 | 58 ha | under 1 ha | 58 ha |
| 2016 | 186 ha | 32 ha | 218 ha |
| 2017 | 83 ha | under 1 ha | 84 ha |
| 2018 | 22 ha | under 1 ha | 22 ha |
| 2019 | 28 ha | 1 ha | 29 ha |
| 2020 | 75 ha | under 1 ha | 75 ha |
| 2021 | 45 ha | under 1 ha | 45 ha |
| 2022 | 95 ha | under 1 ha | 96 ha |
| 2023 | 165 ha | under 1 ha | 165 ha |
| 2024 | 87 ha | under 1 ha | 87 ha |
| 2025 | 171 ha | 35 ha | 206 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Balsas?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good80% · 1,480 ha
- Mining and energycleared for good8.6% · 158 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good6.8% · 125 ha
Also: wildfires, storms, floods and other natural causes, 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
- 8,990 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 8,320 ha
- Overall change
- −668 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Balsas shrank from about 8,990 hectares to 8,320 hectares, a net loss of about 668 hectares (−7.4%). New forest grew on about 150 hectares, but 818 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 Balsas
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Araguaína242.5 km
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- Tree cover
- 9%
- Air quality
- 56
- Imperatriz275.0 km
Brazil
- Tree cover
- 17%
- Air quality
- 58
- Açailândia330.2 km
Brazil
- Tree cover
- 22%
- Air quality
- 58
- Palmas386.3 km
Brazil
- Tree cover
- 22%
- Air quality
- 39
- Bacabal392.3 km
Brazil
- Tree cover
- 29%
- Air quality
- 75
- Codó416.6 km
Brazil
- Tree cover
- 18%
- Air quality
- 75
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Frequently asked
Questions about Balsas
What is the air quality (AQI) in Balsas right now?
The latest reading for Balsas shows an AQI of 24 (Good), observed Nov 10, 16:00 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 Balsas today?
At AQI 24 (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 Balsas been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Balsas's daily AQI at 63 on average, from 52 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 85 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 Balsas lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Balsas has lost about 1,850 hectares of forest (about 2,600 football pitches): 20% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (96%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Forest loss is speeding up: about 120 hectares a year in 2021–2025, up from 86 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Balsas shrank from about 8,990 hectares to 8,320 hectares, a net loss of about 668 hectares (−7.4%). New forest grew on about 150 hectares, but 818 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Balsas?
Balsas has an estimated 51,836 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 16.5% tree cover, 13 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Balsas need?
Balsas needs roughly 42,411 more trees to close a 13-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 933.0 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Balsas'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 Balsas; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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