City report · Liaoning, China
Dandong Air quality today
Air quality in Dandong currently reads AQI 147 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Air quality right now
AQI 147
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 54.2
- tree cover
- 9.0%
- trees in this area
- 22.1K
- more trees needed
- 63.8K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Zhenxing District, Dandong, Liaoning, China (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 19, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Dandong · AQI 147 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups)
Dandong's tree count comes to 22,082 trees across 9.82 km² of land, 26 points below the 35% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 63,793 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Dandong today: AQI 147, 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 · yuanbaoshan, Dandong , Dandong (丹东元宝山), 1.9 km away · median of 3 stations
Health signal
Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
PM2.5
54.2
PM10
83.3
NO₂
—
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Liaoning Provincial Environmental Monitoring (辽宁省环境保护厅)
- 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 Dandong's daily AQI at 78 on average, from 48 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 155 on Nov 4.
Where Dandong stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Dandong: Critically low
9.0% tree cover against a 35% healthy-neighborhood target, across 9.82 km² of land.
Trees in this area
22,082
Target trees
85,875
More trees needed
63,793
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,403 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Dandong lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Dandong has lost about 37 hectares of forest (about 51 football pitches): 2.7% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (57%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from June 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 37 haabout 51 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 2.7%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 21 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2025, when about 9 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 | 3 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2005 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2006 | 1 ha | 2 ha | 3 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 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2012 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 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 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 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 | 2 ha | 3 ha |
| 2020 | 1 ha | 2 ha | 3 ha |
| 2021 | under 1 ha | 2 ha | 2 ha |
| 2022 | under 1 ha | 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2023 | under 1 ha | 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2024 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2025 | 6 ha | 4 ha | 9 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Dandong?
- Towns and roadscleared for good36% · 13 ha
- Loggingcan grow back35% · 13 ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good16% · 6 ha
Also: mining and energy, 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
- 4,470 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 4,640 ha
- Overall change
- +170 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Dandong grew from about 4,470 hectares to 4,640 hectares, a net gain of about 170 hectares (+3.8%). New forest grew on about 280 hectares, while 111 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 Dandong
What is the air quality (AQI) in Dandong right now?
The latest reading for Dandong shows an AQI of 147 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups), measured Nov 11, 23:00 local time by 3 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is yuanbaoshan, Dandong , Dandong (丹东元宝山), 1.9 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Dandong today?
At AQI 147 (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 Dandong been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Dandong's daily AQI at 78 on average, from 48 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 155 on Nov 4. On 1 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Dandong lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Dandong has lost about 37 hectares of forest (about 51 football pitches): 2.7% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (57%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Dandong grew from about 4,470 hectares to 4,640 hectares, a net gain of about 170 hectares (+3.8%). New forest grew on about 280 hectares, while 111 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Dandong?
Dandong has an estimated 22,082 trees across the 9.82 km² of land measured — 9.0% tree cover, 26 percentage points short of the 35% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Dandong need?
Dandong needs roughly 63,793 more trees to close a 26-point shortfall against its 35% tree-cover target — about 1,403 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Dandong's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Zhenxing 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 Zhenxing District; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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