City report · North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Dortmund Air quality today
Air quality in Dortmund currently reads AQI 80 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Air quality right now
AQI 80
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 24.7
- tree cover
- 34.6%
- trees in this area
- 108K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around City-Ost, Innenstadt-West, Dortmund, Germany (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 25, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Dortmund · AQI 80 (Moderate)
Dortmund's tree count comes to 108,373 trees across 12.53 km² of land, already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Dortmund today: AQI 80, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 16:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Dortmund Brackeler Straße, 1.5 km away · median of 2 stations
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
24.7
PM10
22.7
NO₂
19.1
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: OpenAQ · EEA
- 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 Dortmund's daily AQI at 70 on average, from 49 on Nov 4 to an hourly peak of 96 on Nov 10.
Where Dortmund stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Dortmund: Healthy tree cover
34.6% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.53 km² of land.
Trees in this area
108,373
Target trees
108,373
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Dortmund lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Dortmund has lost about 220 hectares of forest (about 310 football pitches): 2.6% of the forest it had in 2000. The biggest cause was towns and roads (45%). About 105 hectares (48%) 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
- 220 haabout 310 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 2.6%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 105 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2010, when about 30 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 | 5 ha | 16 ha | 21 ha |
| 2002 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | 3 ha | 3 ha |
| 2004 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2005 | 6 ha | 10 ha | 16 ha |
| 2006 | 4 ha | 3 ha | 7 ha |
| 2007 | 16 ha | 10 ha | 26 ha |
| 2008 | 17 ha | 9 ha | 26 ha |
| 2009 | 7 ha | 2 ha | 9 ha |
| 2010 | 9 ha | 21 ha | 30 ha |
| 2011 | 2 ha | 2 ha | 4 ha |
| 2012 | 3 ha | 2 ha | 5 ha |
| 2013 | 2 ha | 2 ha | 4 ha |
| 2014 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2015 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2016 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2017 | 3 ha | 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2018 | 2 ha | 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2019 | 5 ha | 4 ha | 9 ha |
| 2020 | 4 ha | 13 ha | 17 ha |
| 2021 | 3 ha | 8 ha | 12 ha |
| 2022 | 3 ha | 3 ha | 6 ha |
| 2023 | 3 ha | 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2024 | 2 ha | 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2025 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Dortmund?
- Towns and roadscleared for good45% · 100 ha
- Loggingcan grow back43% · 94 ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good1.4% · 3 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
- 16,200 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 16,600 ha
- Overall change
- +331 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Dortmund stayed about the same size, at about 16,600 hectares: new forest grew on about 550 hectares, and about 219 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 Dortmund
What is the air quality (AQI) in Dortmund right now?
The latest reading for Dortmund shows an AQI of 80 (Moderate), measured Nov 11, 16:00 local time by 2 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Dortmund Brackeler Straße, 1.5 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Dortmund today?
At AQI 80 (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 Dortmund been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Dortmund's daily AQI at 70 on average, from 49 on Nov 4 to an hourly peak of 96 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 Dortmund lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Dortmund has lost about 220 hectares of forest (about 310 football pitches): 2.6% of the forest it had in 2000. The biggest cause was towns and roads (45%). About 105 hectares (48%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Dortmund stayed about the same size, at about 16,600 hectares: new forest grew on about 550 hectares, and about 219 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Dortmund?
Dortmund has an estimated 108,373 trees across the 12.53 km² of land measured — 34.6% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Dortmund need?
Dortmund has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Dortmund's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near City-Ost, 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 City-Ost; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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