City report · Queensland, Australia
Cairns Air quality today
Air quality in Cairns 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)
- 10.4
- tree cover
- 16.7%
- trees in this area
- 49.3K
- more trees needed
- 39.3K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Parramatta Park QLD 4870, Australia (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Nov 6, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Cairns · AQI 52 (Moderate)
Cairns's tree count comes to 49,317 trees across 11.82 km² of land, 13 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 39,276 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Cairns today: AQI 52, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 11:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Model estimate · no ground station nearby
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
10.4
PM10
16.0
NO₂
0.1
O₃
52.0
SO₂
0.6
CO
98.0
- 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 Cairns's daily AQI at 28 on average, from 23 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 52 on Nov 11.
Where Cairns stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Cairns: Critically low
16.7% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 11.82 km² of land.
Trees in this area
49,317
Target trees
88,593
More trees needed
39,276
CO₂ if planted / yr
864.1 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Cairns lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Cairns has lost about 115 hectares of forest (about 160 football pitches): under 1% of the forest it had in 2000. The biggest cause was towns and roads (39%). About 52 hectares (45%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns.
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 115 haabout 160 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- under 1%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 52 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2014, when about 36 hectares of forest were lost, mostly to wildfires.
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 | 2 ha |
| 2002 | under 1 ha | 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2003 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2004 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2005 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2006 | 3 ha | 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2007 | 10 ha | 8 ha | 17 ha |
| 2008 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2009 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2010 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2011 | under 1 ha | 2 ha | 2 ha |
| 2012 | 2 ha | 2 ha | 4 ha |
| 2013 | 3 ha | 8 ha | 11 ha |
| 2014 | 6 ha | 30 ha | 36 ha |
| 2015 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2016 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2017 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2018 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2019 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2020 | under 1 ha | 4 ha | 4 ha |
| 2021 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2022 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2023 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2024 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2025 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Cairns?
- Towns and roadscleared for good39% · 45 ha
- Wildfirescan grow back22% · 26 ha
- Storms, floods and other natural causescan grow back16% · 19 ha
Also: farms, pasture and plantations, logging, 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
- 13,000 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 12,900 ha
- Overall change
- −77 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Cairns stayed about the same size, at about 12,900 hectares: new forest grew on about 39 hectares, and about 116 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 Cairns
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Townsville282.7 km
Australia
- Tree cover
- 19%
- Air quality
- 56
- Port Moresby841.5 km
Papua New Guinea
- Tree cover
- 22%
- Air quality
- 27
- Popondetta945.7 km
Papua New Guinea
- Tree cover
- 62%
- Air quality
- 42
- Merauke1102.2 km
Indonesia
- Tree cover
- 34%
- Air quality
- 46
- Lae1142.1 km
Papua New Guinea
- Tree cover
- 36%
- Air quality
- 15
- Mount Hagen1241.8 km
Papua New Guinea
- Tree cover
- 53%
- Air quality
- 26
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Frequently asked
Questions about Cairns
What is the air quality (AQI) in Cairns right now?
The latest reading for Cairns shows an AQI of 52 (Moderate), observed Nov 11, 11:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, 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 Cairns 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 Cairns been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Cairns's daily AQI at 28 on average, from 23 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 52 on Nov 11. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Cairns lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Cairns has lost about 115 hectares of forest (about 160 football pitches): under 1% of the forest it had in 2000. The biggest cause was towns and roads (39%). About 52 hectares (45%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Cairns stayed about the same size, at about 12,900 hectares: new forest grew on about 39 hectares, and about 116 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Cairns?
Cairns has an estimated 49,317 trees across the 11.82 km² of land measured — 16.7% tree cover, 13 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Cairns need?
Cairns needs roughly 39,276 more trees to close a 13-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 864.1 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Cairns'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 Parramatta Park QLD 4870; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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