City report · Ontario, Canada
Greater Sudbury Air quality today
Air quality in Greater Sudbury 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)
- 10.0
- tree cover
- 45.1%
- trees in this area
- 120K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around Downtown Sudbury, Greater Sudbury, ON, Canada (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 5, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Greater Sudbury · AQI 53 (Moderate)
Greater Sudbury's tree count comes to 119,725 trees across 10.62 km² of land, already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Greater Sudbury today: AQI 53, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 12:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Sudbury, 1 km away
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
10.0
PM10
—
NO₂
11.3
O₃
27.5
SO₂
2.6
CO
—
Data: OpenAQ · AirNow
- 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 Greater Sudbury's daily AQI at 15 on average, from 5 on Nov 6 to an hourly peak of 52 on Nov 7.
This is the US EPA AQI. How it differs from Canada's AQHI
Where Greater Sudbury stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Greater Sudbury: Healthy tree cover
45.1% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 10.62 km² of land.
Trees in this area
119,725
Target trees
119,725
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Greater Sudbury lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Greater Sudbury has lost about 377 hectares of forest (about 530 football pitches): 3% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (73%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 4 km northeast of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 377 haabout 530 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 3%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 275 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2018, when about 46 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 | 12 ha | 4 ha | 16 ha |
| 2002 | 12 ha | 20 ha | 32 ha |
| 2003 | 4 ha | 4 ha | 7 ha |
| 2004 | 16 ha | 5 ha | 20 ha |
| 2005 | 17 ha | 14 ha | 31 ha |
| 2006 | 11 ha | under 1 ha | 12 ha |
| 2007 | 24 ha | 7 ha | 30 ha |
| 2008 | 20 ha | 2 ha | 22 ha |
| 2009 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 9 ha |
| 2010 | 17 ha | 6 ha | 23 ha |
| 2011 | 12 ha | 4 ha | 17 ha |
| 2012 | 9 ha | 7 ha | 16 ha |
| 2013 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2014 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2015 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2016 | 10 ha | 12 ha | 22 ha |
| 2017 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2018 | 45 ha | 2 ha | 46 ha |
| 2019 | 7 ha | 2 ha | 9 ha |
| 2020 | 4 ha | 5 ha | 9 ha |
| 2021 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2022 | 7 ha | 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2023 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2024 | 13 ha | under 1 ha | 13 ha |
| 2025 | 12 ha | 5 ha | 17 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Greater Sudbury?
- Towns and roadscleared for good52% · 198 ha
- Mining and energycleared for good19% · 73 ha
- Storms, floods and other natural causescan grow back16% · 62 ha
Also: wildfires, logging, 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
- 6,040 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 7,450 ha
- Overall change
- +1,410 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Greater Sudbury grew from about 6,040 hectares to 7,450 hectares, a net gain of about 1,410 hectares (+23%). New forest grew on about 1,570 hectares, while 165 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 Greater Sudbury
What is the air quality (AQI) in Greater Sudbury right now?
The latest reading for Greater Sudbury shows an AQI of 53 (Moderate), measured Nov 11, 12:00 local time by the Sudbury ground monitoring station, 1 km away, via OpenAQ. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Greater Sudbury 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 Greater Sudbury been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Greater Sudbury's daily AQI at 15 on average, from 5 on Nov 6 to an hourly peak of 52 on Nov 7. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Is Greater Sudbury's AQI the same as Canada's AQHI?
No. Airleaf shows the US EPA Air Quality Index (AQI), the scale used by IQAir and most air-quality apps. Canada's Air Quality Health Index (AQHI), from Environment and Climate Change Canada, runs from 1 to 10 and above: 1–3 low risk, 4–6 moderate, 7–10 high and over 10 very high. It combines ozone, nitrogen dioxide and fine particles into one health-risk number, so it isn't a converted AQI, and the two can move differently, especially in wildfire smoke.
How much forest has the area around Greater Sudbury lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Greater Sudbury has lost about 377 hectares of forest (about 530 football pitches): 3% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (73%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Greater Sudbury grew from about 6,040 hectares to 7,450 hectares, a net gain of about 1,410 hectares (+23%). New forest grew on about 1,570 hectares, while 165 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Greater Sudbury?
Greater Sudbury has an estimated 119,725 trees across the 10.62 km² of land measured — 45.1% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Greater Sudbury need?
Greater Sudbury has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Greater Sudbury's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Downtown Sudbury, 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 Downtown Sudbury; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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