City report · North West, South Africa
Brits Air quality today
Air quality in Brits currently reads AQI 52 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Air quality right now
AQI 52
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 8.2
- tree cover
- 29.9%
- trees in this area
- 93.9K
- more trees needed
- 314
Measured across a 2 km radius around Brits, South Africa (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 22, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Brits · AQI 52 (Moderate)
Brits's tree count comes to 93,934 trees across 12.57 km², 0 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 314 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Brits today: AQI 52, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 11:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 8 ground-station cities within 65 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 8 station cities within 65 km, e.g. Soshanguve and Pretoria
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
8.2
PM10
17.4
NO₂
1.9
O₃
154.0
SO₂
15.2
CO
227.0
- Outdoor exercise
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier
- Windows
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution
- Mask
- Not needed for most people
- Air purifier
- Worth running if you are sensitive
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Brits's daily AQI at 61 on average, from 40 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 129 on Nov 11.
Where Brits stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Brits: Below target
29.9% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
93,934
Target trees
94,248
More trees needed
314
CO₂ if planted / yr
6.9 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Brits lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Brits has lost about 6 hectares of forest (about 8 football pitches): 4.9% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (82%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 6 haabout 8 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 4.9%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 5 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2001, when about 1 hectare 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 | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2002 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2005 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2006 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2007 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2008 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2009 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2010 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2011 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2012 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2013 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2014 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2015 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2016 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2017 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2018 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2019 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2020 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2021 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2022 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2023 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2024 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2025 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Brits?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good79% · 5 ha
- Mining and energycleared for good3.5% · under 1 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good1.8% · under 1 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
- 2,650 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 2,650 ha
- Overall change
- −4 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Brits stayed about the same size, at about 2,650 hectares: new forest grew on about 80 hectares, and about 84 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 Brits
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Soshanguve36.7 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 3%
- Air quality
- 205
- Pretoria42.6 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 15%
- Air quality
- 75
- Centurion47.7 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 21%
- Air quality
- 58
- Krugersdorp50.2 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 26%
- Air quality
- 37
- Rustenburg54.1 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 21%
- Air quality
- 33
- Randburg55.7 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 37%
- Air quality
- 44
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Frequently asked
Questions about Brits
What is the air quality (AQI) in Brits right now?
The latest reading for Brits shows an AQI of 52 (Moderate), observed Nov 11, 11:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 8 ground-station cities within 65 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Brits today?
At AQI 52 (Moderate): fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier. Windows: fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution. Masks: not needed for most people. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Brits been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Brits's daily AQI at 61 on average, from 40 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 129 on Nov 11. On 1 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Brits lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Brits has lost about 6 hectares of forest (about 8 football pitches): 4.9% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (82%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Brits stayed about the same size, at about 2,650 hectares: new forest grew on about 80 hectares, and about 84 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Brits?
Brits has an estimated 93,934 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 29.9% tree cover, 0 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Brits need?
Brits needs roughly 314 more trees to close a 0-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 6.9 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Brits'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 Brits; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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