City report · Switzerland
Basel Air quality today
Air quality in Basel currently reads AQI 47 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Air quality right now
AQI 47
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 8.4
- tree cover
- 31.7%
- trees in this area
- 95.5K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around Basel-Iselin, Basel, Switzerland (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 15, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Basel · AQI 47 (Good)
Basel's tree count comes to 95,505 trees across 12.05 km² of land, already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Basel today: AQI 47, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 17:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Schönenbuch, 5.4 km away · median of 5 stations
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
8.4
PM10
16.4
NO₂
27.8
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, EEA
- 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 Basel's daily AQI at 64 on average, from 46 on Nov 11 to an hourly peak of 90 on Nov 7.
Where Basel stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Basel: Healthy tree cover
31.7% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.05 km² of land.
Trees in this area
95,505
Target trees
95,505
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Basel lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Basel has lost about 267 hectares of forest (about 370 football pitches): 3.7% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it was lost to logging, so much of it can grow back. About 55 hectares (21%) 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 southeast of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 267 haabout 370 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 3.7%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 55 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2025, when about 30 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 | 2 ha | 3 ha |
| 2002 | under 1 ha | 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | 2 ha | 3 ha |
| 2004 | 1 ha | 3 ha | 5 ha |
| 2005 | 2 ha | 9 ha | 10 ha |
| 2006 | 1 ha | 5 ha | 7 ha |
| 2007 | 1 ha | 6 ha | 7 ha |
| 2008 | 5 ha | 4 ha | 9 ha |
| 2009 | 3 ha | 10 ha | 13 ha |
| 2010 | 4 ha | 8 ha | 12 ha |
| 2011 | 6 ha | 3 ha | 9 ha |
| 2012 | under 1 ha | 6 ha | 7 ha |
| 2013 | 2 ha | 4 ha | 6 ha |
| 2014 | 1 ha | 6 ha | 7 ha |
| 2015 | under 1 ha | 4 ha | 5 ha |
| 2016 | under 1 ha | 5 ha | 6 ha |
| 2017 | 4 ha | 10 ha | 14 ha |
| 2018 | 3 ha | 7 ha | 10 ha |
| 2019 | 1 ha | 9 ha | 10 ha |
| 2020 | 3 ha | 22 ha | 26 ha |
| 2021 | 2 ha | 18 ha | 20 ha |
| 2022 | 2 ha | 9 ha | 11 ha |
| 2023 | 2 ha | 18 ha | 20 ha |
| 2024 | 4 ha | 15 ha | 18 ha |
| 2025 | 5 ha | 25 ha | 30 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Basel?
- Loggingcan grow back73% · 194 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good18% · 48 ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good2.7% · 7 ha
Also: 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
- 12,100 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 12,200 ha
- Overall change
- +116 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Basel stayed about the same size, at about 12,200 hectares: new forest grew on about 292 hectares, and about 177 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 Basel
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Mulhouse28.3 km
France
- Tree cover
- 28%
- Air quality
- 49
- Freiburg52.9 km
Germany
- Tree cover
- 53%
- Air quality
- 3
- Winterthur86.6 km
Switzerland
- Tree cover
- 61%
- Air quality
- 54
- Strasbourg114.7 km
France
- Tree cover
- 26%
- Air quality
- 148
Also compared:Basel vs Geneva
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Frequently asked
Questions about Basel
What is the air quality (AQI) in Basel right now?
The latest reading for Basel shows an AQI of 47 (Good), measured Nov 11, 17:00 local time by 5 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Schönenbuch, 5.4 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Basel today?
At AQI 47 (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 Basel been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Basel's daily AQI at 64 on average, from 46 on Nov 11 to an hourly peak of 90 on Nov 7. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Basel lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Basel has lost about 267 hectares of forest (about 370 football pitches): 3.7% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it was lost to logging, so much of it can grow back. About 55 hectares (21%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Basel stayed about the same size, at about 12,200 hectares: new forest grew on about 292 hectares, and about 177 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Basel?
Basel has an estimated 95,505 trees across the 12.05 km² of land measured — 31.7% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Basel need?
Basel has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Basel's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Basel-Iselin, 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 2 km radius around Basel-Iselin; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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