City report · Gauteng, South Africa
Etwatwa Air quality today
Air quality in Etwatwa currently reads AQI 53 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
AQI 53
Air quality right now
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 9.5
- tree cover
- 1.8%
- trees in this area
- 5.7K
- more trees needed
- 88.6K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Etwatwa, Benoni, 1519, South Africa (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 14, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Etwatwa · AQI 53 (Moderate)
Etwatwa's tree count comes to 5,655 trees across 12.57 km², 28 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 88,593 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Etwatwa today: AQI 53, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 15:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 14 ground-station cities within 85 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 14 station cities within 85 km, e.g. Thembisa and Germiston
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
9.5
PM10
21.6
NO₂
4.1
O₃
165.0
SO₂
22.8
CO
132.0
- 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 Etwatwa's daily AQI at 62 on average, from 45 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 152 on Nov 4.
Where Etwatwa stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Etwatwa: Critically low
1.8% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
5,655
Target trees
94,248
More trees needed
88,593
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,949 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Etwatwa lost?
There was very little forest around Etwatwa in 2000, about 50 hectares, and about 29 hectares of it has been lost since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here.
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
The worst year was 2005, when about 11 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2005 | 11 ha | under 1 ha | 11 ha |
| 2006 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2007 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2008 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 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 | 1 ha |
| 2012 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 5 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2020 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2021 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 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 Etwatwa?
- Towns and roadscleared for good68% · 20 ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good28% · 8 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown3.1% · under 1 ha
Also: mining and energy, storms, floods and other natural 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
- 288 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 244 ha
- Overall change
- −44 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Etwatwa shrank from about 288 hectares to 244 hectares, a net loss of about 44 hectares (−15%). New forest grew on about 25 hectares, but 69 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 Etwatwa
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Benoni15.1 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 13%
- Air quality
- 81
- Thembisa26.9 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 2%
- Air quality
- 58
- Germiston30.7 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 13%
- Air quality
- 44
- Nigel34.1 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 14%
- Air quality
- 66
- Centurion40.0 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 21%
- Air quality
- 58
- Tokoza41.7 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 7%
- Air quality
- 78
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Frequently asked
Questions about Etwatwa
What is the air quality (AQI) in Etwatwa right now?
The latest reading for Etwatwa shows an AQI of 53 (Moderate), observed Nov 10, 15:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 14 ground-station cities within 85 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Etwatwa today?
At AQI 53 (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 Etwatwa been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Etwatwa's daily AQI at 62 on average, from 45 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 152 on Nov 4. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Etwatwa lost since 2001?
There was very little forest around Etwatwa in 2000, about 50 hectares, and about 29 hectares of it has been lost since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Etwatwa shrank from about 288 hectares to 244 hectares, a net loss of about 44 hectares (−15%). New forest grew on about 25 hectares, but 69 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Etwatwa?
Etwatwa has an estimated 5,655 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 1.8% tree cover, 28 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Etwatwa need?
Etwatwa needs roughly 88,593 more trees to close a 28-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 1,949 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Etwatwa'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 Etwatwa; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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