City report · Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
Gilgit Air quality today
Air quality in Gilgit currently reads AQI 21 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Air quality right now
AQI 21
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 3.7
- tree cover
- 17.6%
- trees in this area
- 55.3K
- more trees needed
- 39.0K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Gilgit, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 11, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Gilgit · AQI 21 (Good)
Gilgit's tree count comes to 55,292 trees across 12.57 km², 12 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 38,956 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Gilgit today: AQI 21, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 14:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 6 ground-station cities within 225 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 6 station cities within 225 km, e.g. Muzaffarabad and Srinagar
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
3.7
PM10
9.4
NO₂
0.6
O₃
120.0
SO₂
0.7
CO
142.0
- 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 Gilgit's daily AQI at 36 on average, from 22 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 68 on Nov 4.
Where Gilgit stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Gilgit: Critically low
17.6% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
55,292
Target trees
94,248
More trees needed
38,956
CO₂ if planted / yr
857.0 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Gilgit lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Gilgit has lost about 2 hectares of forest (about 3 football pitches): under 1% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (67%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from September 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 2 haabout 3 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- under 1%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 1 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 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 | 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 Gilgit?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good33% · under 1 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good29% · under 1 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown38% · under 1 ha
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
- 857 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 894 ha
- Overall change
- +37 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Gilgit grew from about 857 hectares to 894 hectares, a net gain of about 37 hectares (+4.3%). New forest grew on about 59 hectares, while 21 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 Gilgit
What is the air quality (AQI) in Gilgit right now?
The latest reading for Gilgit shows an AQI of 21 (Good), observed Nov 10, 14:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 6 ground-station cities within 225 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Gilgit today?
At AQI 21 (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 Gilgit been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Gilgit's daily AQI at 36 on average, from 22 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 68 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 Gilgit lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Gilgit has lost about 2 hectares of forest (about 3 football pitches): under 1% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (67%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Gilgit grew from about 857 hectares to 894 hectares, a net gain of about 37 hectares (+4.3%). New forest grew on about 59 hectares, while 21 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Gilgit?
Gilgit has an estimated 55,292 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 17.6% tree cover, 12 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Gilgit need?
Gilgit needs roughly 38,956 more trees to close a 12-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 857.0 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Gilgit'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 Gilgit; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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