City report · Ireland
Cork Air quality today
Air quality in Cork currently reads AQI 44 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Air quality right now
AQI 44
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 7.9
- tree cover
- 26.1%
- trees in this area
- 79.5K
- more trees needed
- 11.9K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Centre, Cork, Ireland (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Aug 22, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Cork · AQI 44 (Good)
Cork's tree count comes to 79,454 trees across 12.18 km² of land, 4 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 11,872 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Cork today: AQI 44, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 15:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Cork Lower Glanmire Road, 700 m away · median of 5 stations
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
7.9
PM10
11.2
NO₂
31.1
O₃
71.7
SO₂
—
CO
190.0
Data: OpenAQ · EEA
- 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 Cork's daily AQI at 51 on average, from 36 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 74 on Nov 7.
Where Cork stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Cork: Below target
26.1% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.18 km² of land.
Trees in this area
79,454
Target trees
91,326
More trees needed
11,872
CO₂ if planted / yr
261.2 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Cork lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Cork has lost about 180 hectares of forest (about 250 football pitches): 3.9% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (75%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2018: satellite photo from July 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 180 haabout 250 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 3.9%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 134 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2001, when about 48 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 | 42 ha | 7 ha | 48 ha |
| 2002 | 16 ha | 2 ha | 18 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2004 | 15 ha | 5 ha | 20 ha |
| 2005 | 11 ha | 4 ha | 15 ha |
| 2006 | 15 ha | 3 ha | 18 ha |
| 2007 | 5 ha | 3 ha | 8 ha |
| 2008 | 11 ha | 2 ha | 13 ha |
| 2009 | 7 ha | 3 ha | 9 ha |
| 2010 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2011 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2012 | 5 ha | 2 ha | 7 ha |
| 2013 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2014 | under 1 ha | 2 ha | 2 ha |
| 2015 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2016 | under 1 ha | 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2017 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2018 | under 1 ha | 3 ha | 3 ha |
| 2019 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2020 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2021 | 1 ha | 5 ha | 6 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 Cork?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good59% · 106 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good16% · 29 ha
- Loggingcan grow back9.6% · 17 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
- 4,080 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 4,460 ha
- Overall change
- +382 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Cork grew from about 4,080 hectares to 4,460 hectares, a net gain of about 382 hectares (+9.4%). New forest grew on about 470 hectares, while 88 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 Cork
What is the air quality (AQI) in Cork right now?
The latest reading for Cork shows an AQI of 44 (Good), measured Nov 11, 15:00 local time by 5 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Cork Lower Glanmire Road, 700 m away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Cork today?
At AQI 44 (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 Cork been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Cork's daily AQI at 51 on average, from 36 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 74 on Nov 7. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Cork lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Cork has lost about 180 hectares of forest (about 250 football pitches): 3.9% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (75%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Cork grew from about 4,080 hectares to 4,460 hectares, a net gain of about 382 hectares (+9.4%). New forest grew on about 470 hectares, while 88 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Cork?
Cork has an estimated 79,454 trees across the 12.18 km² of land measured — 26.1% tree cover, 4 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Cork need?
Cork needs roughly 11,872 more trees to close a 4-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 261.2 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Cork's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Centre, 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 Centre; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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