City report · Hunan, China
Changsha Air quality today
Air quality in Changsha currently reads AQI 109 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
AQI 109
Air quality right now
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 38.7
- tree cover
- 18.1%
- trees in this area
- 43.2K
- more trees needed
- 40.4K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Kaifu District, Changsha, Changsha, Hunan, China (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 13, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Changsha · AQI 109 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups)
Changsha's tree count comes to 43,216 trees across 9.55 km² of land, 17 points below the 35% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 40,351 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Changsha today: AQI 109, Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 23:00 local time via World Air Quality Index Project ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · New train station, Changsha (长沙火车新站), 3 km away · median of 7 stations
Health signal
Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
PM2.5
38.7
PM10
63.1
NO₂
—
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Hunan Environmental Protection Agency (湖南省环境保护厅), China National Urban air quality real-time publishing platform (全国城市空气质量实时发布平台)
- Outdoor exercise
- Children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise
- Windows
- Close them to keep the outside air out
- Mask
- Sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors
- Air purifier
- Run one, especially in bedrooms
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Changsha's daily AQI at 79 on average, from 68 on Nov 4 to an hourly peak of 148 on Nov 10.
Where Changsha stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Changsha: Critically low
18.1% tree cover against a 35% healthy-neighborhood target, across 9.55 km² of land.
Trees in this area
43,216
Target trees
83,567
More trees needed
40,351
CO₂ if planted / yr
887.7 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Changsha lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Changsha has lost about 87 hectares of forest (about 120 football pitches): 9.7% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (97%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from November 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 87 haabout 120 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 9.7%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 84 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2007, 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2002 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2003 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2004 | 11 ha | under 1 ha | 11 ha |
| 2005 | 7 ha | under 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2006 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2007 | 14 ha | under 1 ha | 14 ha |
| 2008 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2009 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2010 | 9 ha | under 1 ha | 9 ha |
| 2011 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2012 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2013 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2014 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2015 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2016 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2017 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2018 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2019 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2020 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2021 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2022 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2023 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2024 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2025 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Changsha?
- Towns and roadscleared for good97% · 84 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown2.9% · 3 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
- 4,500 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 5,130 ha
- Overall change
- +635 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Changsha grew from about 4,500 hectares to 5,130 hectares, a net gain of about 635 hectares (+14%). New forest grew on about 816 hectares, while 181 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
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Frequently asked
Questions about Changsha
What is the air quality (AQI) in Changsha right now?
The latest reading for Changsha shows an AQI of 109 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups), measured Nov 11, 23:00 local time by 7 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is New train station, Changsha (长沙火车新站), 3 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Changsha today?
At AQI 109 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups): children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise. Windows: close them to keep the outside air out. Masks: sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Changsha been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Changsha's daily AQI at 79 on average, from 68 on Nov 4 to an hourly peak of 148 on Nov 10. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Changsha lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Changsha has lost about 87 hectares of forest (about 120 football pitches): 9.7% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (97%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Changsha grew from about 4,500 hectares to 5,130 hectares, a net gain of about 635 hectares (+14%). New forest grew on about 816 hectares, while 181 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Changsha?
Changsha has an estimated 43,216 trees across the 9.55 km² of land measured — 18.1% tree cover, 17 percentage points short of the 35% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Changsha need?
Changsha needs roughly 40,351 more trees to close a 17-point shortfall against its 35% tree-cover target — about 887.7 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Changsha's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Kaifu District, 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 2 km radius around Kaifu District; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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