City report · Gauteng, South Africa
Germiston Air quality today
Air quality in Germiston currently reads AQI 44 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Air quality right now
AQI 44
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 8.0
- tree cover
- 13.2%
- trees in this area
- 39.9K
- more trees needed
- 50.8K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Germiston, 1400, South Africa (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 22, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Germiston · AQI 44 (Good)
Germiston's tree count comes to 39,935 trees across 12.1 km² of land, 17 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 50,826 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Germiston today: AQI 44, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 18:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Little John Park , 20 km away · median of 3 stations
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
8.0
PM10
—
NO₂
21.5
O₃
67.1
SO₂
26.9
CO
585.4
Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, South Africa, Shift iT, Robin Kohl, South African Air Quality Information System (SAAQIS)
- 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 Germiston's daily AQI at 72 on average, from 54 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 160 on Nov 5.
Where Germiston stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Germiston: Critically low
13.2% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.1 km² of land.
Trees in this area
39,935
Target trees
90,761
More trees needed
50,826
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,118 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Germiston lost?
There was very little forest around Germiston in 2000, about 32 hectares, and about 7 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 July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
The worst year was 2019, when about 2 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2006 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 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 | 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 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 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 Germiston?
- Towns and roadscleared for good73% · 5 ha
- Loggingcan grow back17% · 1 ha
- Mining and energycleared for good5.7% · under 1 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
- 2,610 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 2,700 ha
- Overall change
- +91 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Germiston grew from about 2,610 hectares to 2,700 hectares, a net gain of about 91 hectares (+3.5%). New forest grew on about 157 hectares, while 66 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 Germiston
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Johannesburg12.1 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 4%
- Air quality
- 44
- Benoni15.9 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 13%
- Air quality
- 81
- Tokoza16.5 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 7%
- Air quality
- 78
- Randburg21.1 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 37%
- Air quality
- 44
- Thembisa25.1 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 2%
- Air quality
- 58
- Roodepoort29.7 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 21%
- Air quality
- 37
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Frequently asked
Questions about Germiston
What is the air quality (AQI) in Germiston right now?
The latest reading for Germiston shows an AQI of 44 (Good), measured Nov 11, 18:00 local time by 3 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Little John Park , 20 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Germiston today?
At AQI 44 (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 Germiston been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Germiston's daily AQI at 72 on average, from 54 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 160 on Nov 5. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Germiston lost since 2001?
There was very little forest around Germiston in 2000, about 32 hectares, and about 7 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 Germiston grew from about 2,610 hectares to 2,700 hectares, a net gain of about 91 hectares (+3.5%). New forest grew on about 157 hectares, while 66 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Germiston?
Germiston has an estimated 39,935 trees across the 12.1 km² of land measured — 13.2% tree cover, 17 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Germiston need?
Germiston needs roughly 50,826 more trees to close a 17-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 1,118 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Germiston's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Germiston, 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 Germiston; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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