City report · Mérida, Venezuela
El Vigía Air quality today
Air quality in El Vigía currently reads AQI 43 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 43
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 7.4
- tree cover
- 33.4%
- trees in this area
- 105K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around El Vigía 5145, Mérida, Venezuela (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 3, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
El Vigía · AQI 43 (Good)
El Vigía's tree count comes to 104,929 trees across 12.57 km², already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in El Vigía today: AQI 43, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 06:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Model estimate · no ground station nearby
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
7.4
PM10
7.7
NO₂
12.2
O₃
20.0
SO₂
0.3
CO
318.0
- 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 El Vigía's daily AQI at 41 on average, from 25 on Nov 7 to an hourly peak of 61 on Nov 6.
Where El Vigía stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in El Vigía: Healthy tree cover
33.4% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
104,929
Target trees
104,929
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has El Vigía lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of El Vigía has lost about 2,010 hectares of forest (about 2,800 football pitches): 13% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (96%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2020: satellite photo from February 2020 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km south of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 2,010 haabout 2,800 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 13%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 1,930 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Forest loss is slowing down: about 42 hectares a year in 2021–2025, down from 67 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2010, when about 201 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 | 147 ha | 3 ha | 150 ha |
| 2002 | 145 ha | 2 ha | 147 ha |
| 2003 | 90 ha | 5 ha | 94 ha |
| 2004 | 78 ha | 4 ha | 82 ha |
| 2005 | 81 ha | 6 ha | 87 ha |
| 2006 | 90 ha | 2 ha | 92 ha |
| 2007 | 146 ha | 3 ha | 149 ha |
| 2008 | 74 ha | 5 ha | 79 ha |
| 2009 | 104 ha | 3 ha | 107 ha |
| 2010 | 197 ha | 4 ha | 201 ha |
| 2011 | 64 ha | 6 ha | 70 ha |
| 2012 | 152 ha | 4 ha | 156 ha |
| 2013 | 14 ha | under 1 ha | 14 ha |
| 2014 | 16 ha | under 1 ha | 16 ha |
| 2015 | 17 ha | under 1 ha | 17 ha |
| 2016 | 53 ha | 4 ha | 57 ha |
| 2017 | 120 ha | 2 ha | 122 ha |
| 2018 | 81 ha | 16 ha | 97 ha |
| 2019 | 34 ha | 2 ha | 36 ha |
| 2020 | 24 ha | 2 ha | 25 ha |
| 2021 | 36 ha | 6 ha | 42 ha |
| 2022 | 51 ha | 2 ha | 53 ha |
| 2023 | 39 ha | under 1 ha | 40 ha |
| 2024 | 26 ha | under 1 ha | 26 ha |
| 2025 | 47 ha | 1 ha | 49 ha |
What is causing deforestation around El Vigía?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good93% · 1,860 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good3.3% · 66 ha
- Shifting farmingcan grow back2.7% · 53 ha
Also: storms, floods and other natural causes, 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
- 13,300 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 12,700 ha
- Overall change
- −614 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around El Vigía shrank from about 13,300 hectares to 12,700 hectares, a net loss of about 614 hectares (−4.6%). New forest grew on about 830 hectares, but 1,440 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 El Vigía
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Ejido46.4 km
Venezuela
- Tree cover
- 31%
- Air quality
- 27
- San Carlos del Zulia52.3 km
Venezuela
- Tree cover
- 32%
- Air quality
- 56
- Mérida53.8 km
Venezuela
- Tree cover
- 43%
- Air quality
- 27
- San Cristóbal113.8 km
Venezuela
- Tree cover
- 29%
- Air quality
- 24
- Cúcuta121.9 km
Colombia
- Tree cover
- 17%
- Air quality
- 52
- Valera139.7 km
Venezuela
- Tree cover
- 43%
- Air quality
- 55
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Frequently asked
Questions about El Vigía
What is the air quality (AQI) in El Vigía right now?
The latest reading for El Vigía shows an AQI of 43 (Good), observed Nov 11, 06:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in El Vigía today?
At AQI 43 (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 El Vigía been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put El Vigía's daily AQI at 41 on average, from 25 on Nov 7 to an hourly peak of 61 on Nov 6. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around El Vigía lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of El Vigía has lost about 2,010 hectares of forest (about 2,800 football pitches): 13% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (96%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Forest loss is slowing down: about 42 hectares a year in 2021–2025, down from 67 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around El Vigía shrank from about 13,300 hectares to 12,700 hectares, a net loss of about 614 hectares (−4.6%). New forest grew on about 830 hectares, but 1,440 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in El Vigía?
El Vigía has an estimated 104,929 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 33.4% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does El Vigía need?
El Vigía has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are El Vigía'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 El Vigía 5145; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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