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Air quality now: AQI26Good, Brooklyn

City report · New York, United States

Brooklyn Air quality today

Air quality in Brooklyn currently reads AQI 26 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

AQI 26

Air quality right now

Good

Main pollutant: PM2.5
PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
4.7
tree cover
22.9%
trees in this area
71.3K
more trees needed
22.1K

Measured across a 1.2 mi (2 km) radius around Little Haiti, Brooklyn, NY, USA (4.9 sq mi), from a satellite image of Sep 8, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.

Brooklyn · AQI 26 (Good)

Dark green marks tree cover detected inside the study radius.Sentinel-2 L2A (ESA Copernicus) via Earth Search, captured Sep 8, 2026

Brooklyn's tree count comes to 71,295 trees across 4.8 sq mi (12.46 km²) of land, 7 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 22,105 more trees would close the gap.

Air quality detail

Air quality in Brooklyn today: AQI 26, Good

Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 11:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.

Ground station · Bklyn - PS274, 3.2 mi (5.2 km) away · median of 3 stations

Health signal

Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

PM2.5

4.7

PM10

—

NO₂

—

O₃

—

SO₂

—

CO

—

Data: OpenAQ · AirNow

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 Brooklyn's daily AQI at 45 on average, from 28 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 107 on Nov 6.

Last 7 days · model estimateavg 45 · peak 107
Nov 5: AQI 53 (peak 57)Nov 6: AQI 58 (peak 107)Nov 7: AQI 50 (peak 83)Nov 8: AQI 28 (peak 51)Nov 9: AQI 36 (peak 52)Nov 10: AQI 48 (peak 56)Nov 11: AQI 40 (peak 52)
Nov 5Nov 11

Where Brooklyn stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest

Tree cover detail

Tree cover in Brooklyn: Below target

22.9% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 4.8 sq mi (12.46 km²) of land.

7 points below target

Trees in this area

71,295

Target trees

93,400

More trees needed

22,105

CO₂ if planted / yr

486.3 t

Deforestation · 2001–2025

How much forest has Brooklyn lost?

Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Brooklyn has lost about 30 acres (12 hectares) of forest (about 23 football fields): 1.1% of the forest it had in 2000. The biggest cause was towns and roads (45%). About 15 acres (6 hectares) (50%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns.

Satellite image of the area around Brooklyn, July 2018

2018: satellite photo from July 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.

Forest lost since 2001
30 acres (12 ha)about 23 football fields
Share of its forest
1.1%of what there was in 2000
Cleared for good
15 acres (6 ha)deforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns

The worst year was 2025, when about 6 acres (3 hectares) of forest were lost.

Forest lost each year around Brooklyn, 2001–2025

Acres of forest lost each year

Forest lost each year around Brooklyn, 2001–2025. Use the left and right arrow keys to read each year.6.18

Show the figures as a table
Forest lost each year around Brooklyn, 2001–2025
YearCleared for goodCan grow backTotal
2001under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2002under 1 haunder 1 ha2 acres (1 ha)
2003under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2004under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2005under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2006under 1 haunder 1 ha3 acres (1 ha)
2007under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2008under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2009under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
20105 acres (2 ha)under 1 ha6 acres (2 ha)
2011under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2012under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2013under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2014under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2015under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2016under 1 haunder 1 ha3 acres (1 ha)
2017under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2018under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2019under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2020under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2021under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2022under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2023under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2024under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2025under 1 ha6 acres (3 ha)6 acres (3 ha)

What is causing deforestation around Brooklyn?

  • Towns and roadscleared for good45% · 14 acres (6 ha)
  • Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good5% · under 1 ha
  • Unknown causescause unknown51% · 15 acres (6 ha)

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
5,200 acres (2,110 ha)
Forest in 2020
5,450 acres (2,210 ha)
Overall change
+250 acres (101 ha)more forest than in 2000

Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Brooklyn grew from about 5,200 acres (2,110 hectares) to 5,450 acres (2,210 hectares), a net gain of about 250 acres (101 hectares) (+4.8%). New forest grew on about 413 acres (167 hectares), while 162 acres (66 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 Brooklyn

Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.

  • Manhattan

    United States

    14.9 km
    Tree cover
    40%
    Air quality
    26
  • Staten Island

    United States

    18.8 km
    Tree cover
    43%
    Air quality
    19
  • Newark

    United States

    21.1 km
    Tree cover
    11%
    Air quality
    26
  • Elizabeth

    United States

    22.1 km
    Tree cover
    15%
    Air quality
    28
  • The Bronx

    United States

    23.3 km
    Tree cover
    30%
    Air quality
    28
  • Yonkers

    United States

    31.5 km
    Tree cover
    46%
    Air quality
    26

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Brooklyn air quality (AQI) and tree cover — measured by Airleaf
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Frequently asked

Questions about Brooklyn

What is the air quality (AQI) in Brooklyn right now?

The latest reading for Brooklyn shows an AQI of 26 (Good), measured Nov 11, 11:00 local time by 3 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Bklyn - PS274, 3.2 mi (5.2 km) away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

Is it safe to exercise outside in Brooklyn today?

At AQI 26 (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 Brooklyn been like this week?

Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Brooklyn's daily AQI at 45 on average, from 28 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 107 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 Brooklyn lost since 2001?

Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Brooklyn has lost about 30 acres (12 hectares) of forest (about 23 football fields): 1.1% of the forest it had in 2000. The biggest cause was towns and roads (45%). About 15 acres (6 hectares) (50%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Brooklyn grew from about 5,200 acres (2,110 hectares) to 5,450 acres (2,210 hectares), a net gain of about 250 acres (101 hectares) (+4.8%). New forest grew on about 413 acres (167 hectares), while 162 acres (66 hectares) were lost.

What is the tree count in Brooklyn?

Brooklyn has an estimated 71,295 trees across the 4.8 sq mi (12.46 km²) of land measured — 22.9% tree cover, 7 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.

How many more trees does Brooklyn need?

Brooklyn needs roughly 22,105 more trees to close a 7-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 486.3 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.

How are Brooklyn's air quality and tree cover measured?

Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Little Haiti, 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 1.2 mi (2 km) radius around Little Haiti; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.

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