City report · North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Essen Air quality today
Air quality in Essen currently reads AQI 72 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
AQI 72
Air quality right now
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 20.5
- tree cover
- 34.6%
- trees in this area
- 109K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around Essen-Stadtkern, Stadtbezirk I, 45127 Essen, Germany (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 25, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Essen · AQI 72 (Moderate)
Essen's tree count comes to 108,590 trees across 12.56 km² of land, already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Essen today: AQI 72, 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 · Essen-Ost Steeler Straße, 1.4 km away · median of 6 stations
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
20.5
PM10
20.2
NO₂
29.2
O₃
8.2
SO₂
0.7
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 Essen's daily AQI at 71 on average, from 51 on Nov 4 to an hourly peak of 95 on Nov 10.
Where Essen stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Essen: Healthy tree cover
34.6% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.56 km² of land.
Trees in this area
108,590
Target trees
108,590
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Essen lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Essen has lost about 116 hectares of forest (about 160 football pitches): 1.1% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (50%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2018: satellite photo from July 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 116 haabout 160 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 1.1%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 58 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2010, when about 20 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 | 3 ha | 3 ha | 7 ha |
| 2002 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2003 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2004 | 3 ha | 2 ha | 5 ha |
| 2005 | 3 ha | 3 ha | 6 ha |
| 2006 | 3 ha | 3 ha | 6 ha |
| 2007 | 2 ha | 6 ha | 8 ha |
| 2008 | 5 ha | 5 ha | 10 ha |
| 2009 | 2 ha | 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2010 | 5 ha | 16 ha | 20 ha |
| 2011 | 1 ha | 2 ha | 4 ha |
| 2012 | 2 ha | 2 ha | 4 ha |
| 2013 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2014 | under 1 ha | 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2015 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2016 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2017 | 5 ha | 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2018 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2019 | 3 ha | 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2020 | under 1 ha | 2 ha | 3 ha |
| 2021 | 5 ha | 2 ha | 7 ha |
| 2022 | 1 ha | 3 ha | 4 ha |
| 2023 | 2 ha | 2 ha | 3 ha |
| 2024 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2025 | under 1 ha | 2 ha | 2 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Essen?
- Towns and roadscleared for good46% · 54 ha
- Loggingcan grow back29% · 34 ha
- Mining and energycleared for good2.3% · 3 ha
Also: farms, pasture and plantations, 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
- 18,500 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 18,600 ha
- Overall change
- +120 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Essen stayed about the same size, at about 18,600 hectares: new forest grew on about 391 hectares, and about 271 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 Essen
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Bochum14.4 km
Germany
- Tree cover
- 48%
- Air quality
- 86
- Duisburg17.3 km
Germany
- Tree cover
- 29%
- Air quality
- 86
- Recklinghausen21.7 km
Germany
- Tree cover
- 49%
- Air quality
- 79
- Wuppertal24.2 km
Germany
- Tree cover
- 52%
- Air quality
- 42
- Moers26.3 km
Germany
- Tree cover
- 39%
- Air quality
- 67
- Düsseldorf30.6 km
Germany
- Tree cover
- 24%
- Air quality
- 55
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Frequently asked
Questions about Essen
What is the air quality (AQI) in Essen right now?
The latest reading for Essen shows an AQI of 72 (Moderate), measured Nov 11, 16:00 local time by 6 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Essen-Ost Steeler Straße, 1.4 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Essen today?
At AQI 72 (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 Essen been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Essen's daily AQI at 71 on average, from 51 on Nov 4 to an hourly peak of 95 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 Essen lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Essen has lost about 116 hectares of forest (about 160 football pitches): 1.1% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (50%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Essen stayed about the same size, at about 18,600 hectares: new forest grew on about 391 hectares, and about 271 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Essen?
Essen has an estimated 108,590 trees across the 12.56 km² of land measured — 34.6% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Essen need?
Essen has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Essen's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Essen-Stadtkern, 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 Essen-Stadtkern; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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