City report · Minas Gerais, Brazil
Belo Horizonte Air quality today
Air quality in Belo Horizonte currently reads AQI 21 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 21
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 4.6
- tree cover
- 14.2%
- trees in this area
- 44.6K
- more trees needed
- 49.6K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Centro, Belo Horizonte - Minas Gerais, Brazil (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Oct 1, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Belo Horizonte · AQI 21 (Good)
Belo Horizonte's tree count comes to 44,611 trees across 12.57 km², 16 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 49,637 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Belo Horizonte today: AQI 21, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 17:00 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
4.6
PM10
5.1
NO₂
11.2
O₃
47.0
SO₂
4.1
CO
190.0
- 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 Belo Horizonte's daily AQI at 40 on average, from 16 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 80 on Nov 6.
Where Belo Horizonte stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Belo Horizonte: Critically low
14.2% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
44,611
Target trees
94,248
More trees needed
49,637
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,092 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Belo Horizonte lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Belo Horizonte has lost about 139 hectares of forest (about 200 football pitches): 2.6% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (69%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 139 haabout 200 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 2.6%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 96 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2024, 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 | 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2002 | 1 ha | 2 ha | 3 ha |
| 2003 | 4 ha | 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2005 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2006 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2007 | 5 ha | 3 ha | 8 ha |
| 2008 | 6 ha | 2 ha | 8 ha |
| 2009 | 10 ha | 2 ha | 12 ha |
| 2010 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2011 | 2 ha | 2 ha | 4 ha |
| 2012 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2013 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2014 | 5 ha | 7 ha | 12 ha |
| 2015 | 9 ha | 4 ha | 13 ha |
| 2016 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2017 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2018 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2019 | 1 ha | 2 ha | 3 ha |
| 2020 | 6 ha | 2 ha | 8 ha |
| 2021 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2022 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2023 | 3 ha | 3 ha | 6 ha |
| 2024 | 10 ha | 4 ha | 14 ha |
| 2025 | 4 ha | 5 ha | 9 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Belo Horizonte?
- Towns and roadscleared for good56% · 78 ha
- Wildfirescan grow back13% · 18 ha
- Mining and energycleared for good8.3% · 12 ha
Also: logging, 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
- 6,010 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 6,110 ha
- Overall change
- +101 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Belo Horizonte stayed about the same size, at about 6,110 hectares: new forest grew on about 195 hectares, and about 94 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 Belo Horizonte
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Contagem12.2 km
Brazil
- Tree cover
- 16%
- Air quality
- 18
- Sabará14.2 km
Brazil
- Tree cover
- 62%
- Air quality
- 26
- Ibirité16.9 km
Brazil
- Tree cover
- 50%
- Air quality
- 14
- Santa Luzia19.1 km
Brazil
- Tree cover
- 50%
- Air quality
- 17
- Ribeirão das Neves23.1 km
Brazil
- Tree cover
- 32%
- Air quality
- 14
- Vespasiano25.5 km
Brazil
- Tree cover
- 31%
- Air quality
- 18
Also compared:Belo Horizonte vs BrasíliaBelo Horizonte vs São PauloBelo Horizonte vs Rio de JaneiroBelo Horizonte vs Salvador
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Frequently asked
Questions about Belo Horizonte
What is the air quality (AQI) in Belo Horizonte right now?
The latest reading for Belo Horizonte shows an AQI of 21 (Good), observed Nov 10, 17:00 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 Belo Horizonte today?
At AQI 21 (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 Belo Horizonte been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Belo Horizonte's daily AQI at 40 on average, from 16 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 80 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 Belo Horizonte lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Belo Horizonte has lost about 139 hectares of forest (about 200 football pitches): 2.6% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (69%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Belo Horizonte stayed about the same size, at about 6,110 hectares: new forest grew on about 195 hectares, and about 94 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Belo Horizonte?
Belo Horizonte has an estimated 44,611 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 14.2% tree cover, 16 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Belo Horizonte need?
Belo Horizonte needs roughly 49,637 more trees to close a 16-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 1,092 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Belo Horizonte'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 Centro; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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