City report · Belize
Belize City Air quality today
Air quality in Belize City currently reads AQI 38 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 38
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 6.1
- tree cover
- 25.1%
- trees in this area
- 64.8K
- more trees needed
- 12.7K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Belize City, Belize (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Oct 25, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Belize City · AQI 38 (Good)
Belize City's tree count comes to 64,818 trees across 10.33 km² of land, 5 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 12,654 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Belize City today: AQI 38, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 14:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 245 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 3 station cities within 245 km, e.g. Choloma and San Pedro Sula
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
6.1
PM10
3.9
NO₂
0.3
O₃
67.0
SO₂
0.6
CO
107.0
- 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 Belize City's daily AQI at 28 on average, from 16 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 55 on Nov 7.
Where Belize City stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Belize City: Below target
25.1% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 10.33 km² of land.
Trees in this area
64,818
Target trees
77,472
More trees needed
12,654
CO₂ if planted / yr
278.4 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Belize City lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Belize City has lost about 383 hectares of forest (about 540 football pitches): 10% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (52%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northwest of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 383 haabout 540 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 10%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 200 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2002, when about 62 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 | 10 ha | 43 ha | 53 ha |
| 2002 | 14 ha | 48 ha | 62 ha |
| 2003 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2004 | 4 ha | 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2005 | 10 ha | under 1 ha | 10 ha |
| 2006 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2007 | 20 ha | 2 ha | 22 ha |
| 2008 | 8 ha | 3 ha | 11 ha |
| 2009 | 12 ha | 1 ha | 13 ha |
| 2010 | 2 ha | 2 ha | 4 ha |
| 2011 | 11 ha | under 1 ha | 11 ha |
| 2012 | 1 ha | 2 ha | 3 ha |
| 2013 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2014 | 10 ha | 5 ha | 15 ha |
| 2015 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 9 ha |
| 2016 | 2 ha | 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2017 | 29 ha | 20 ha | 49 ha |
| 2018 | 6 ha | 3 ha | 9 ha |
| 2019 | 6 ha | 3 ha | 9 ha |
| 2020 | 7 ha | 10 ha | 18 ha |
| 2021 | 4 ha | 4 ha | 8 ha |
| 2022 | 8 ha | 3 ha | 10 ha |
| 2023 | 7 ha | 29 ha | 36 ha |
| 2024 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2025 | 10 ha | 2 ha | 12 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Belize City?
- Storms, floods and other natural causescan grow back47% · 180 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good42% · 161 ha
- Mining and energycleared for good10% · 39 ha
Also: farms, pasture and plantations, 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
- 1,590 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 1,500 ha
- Overall change
- −93 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Belize City shrank from about 1,590 hectares to 1,500 hectares, a net loss of about 93 hectares (−5.8%). New forest grew on about 48 hectares, but 141 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 Belize City
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Orange Walk75.4 km
Belize
- Tree cover
- 44%
- Air quality
- 16
- Chetumal114.0 km
Mexico
- Tree cover
- 19%
- Air quality
- 17
- Puerto Cortez188.3 km
Honduras
- Tree cover
- 43%
- Air quality
- 70
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Frequently asked
Questions about Belize City
What is the air quality (AQI) in Belize City right now?
The latest reading for Belize City shows an AQI of 38 (Good), observed Nov 10, 14:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 245 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Belize City today?
At AQI 38 (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 Belize City been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Belize City's daily AQI at 28 on average, from 16 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 55 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 Belize City lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Belize City has lost about 383 hectares of forest (about 540 football pitches): 10% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (52%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Belize City shrank from about 1,590 hectares to 1,500 hectares, a net loss of about 93 hectares (−5.8%). New forest grew on about 48 hectares, but 141 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Belize City?
Belize City has an estimated 64,818 trees across the 10.33 km² of land measured — 25.1% tree cover, 5 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Belize City need?
Belize City needs roughly 12,654 more trees to close a 5-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 278.4 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Belize City'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 Belize City; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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