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Airleaf

City report · Ecuador

Guayaquil Air quality today

Air quality in Guayaquil currently reads AQI 16 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

Air quality right now

AQI 16

Good

Main pollutant: PM2.5
PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
3.3
tree cover
6.6%
trees in this area
14.7K
more trees needed
52.0K

Measured across a 2 km radius around La Bahia, Guayaquil, Ecuador (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Jan 5, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.

Guayaquil · AQI 16 (Good)

Dark green marks tree cover detected inside the study radius.Sentinel-2 L2A (ESA Copernicus) via Earth Search, captured Jan 5, 2026

Guayaquil's tree count comes to 14,680 trees across 8.9 km² of land, 23 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 52,047 more trees would close the gap.

Air quality detail

Air quality in Guayaquil today: AQI 16, Good

Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 10:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.

Model estimate · no ground station nearby

Health signal

Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

PM2.5

3.3

PM10

3.9

NO₂

9.0

O₃

51.0

SO₂

6.0

CO

509.0

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 Guayaquil's daily AQI at 30 on average, from 19 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 60 on Nov 6.

Last 7 daysavg 30 · peak 60
Nov 4: AQI 29 (peak 43)Nov 5: AQI 19 (peak 34)Nov 6: AQI 40 (peak 60)Nov 7: AQI 25 (peak 50)Nov 8: AQI 41 (peak 53)Nov 9: AQI 24 (peak 47)Nov 10: AQI 29 (peak 47)
Nov 4Nov 10

Where Guayaquil stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest

Tree cover detail

Tree cover in Guayaquil: Critically low

6.6% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 8.9 km² of land.

23 points below target

Trees in this area

14,680

Target trees

66,727

More trees needed

52,047

CO₂ if planted / yr

1,145 t

Deforestation · 2001–2025

How much forest has Guayaquil lost?

Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Guayaquil has lost about 30 hectares of forest (about 42 football pitches): under 1% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (69%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.

Satellite image of the area around Guayaquil, April 2017

2017: satellite photo from April 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.

Forest lost since 2001
30 haabout 42 football pitches
Share of its forest
under 1%of what there was in 2000
Cleared for good
21 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns

The worst year was 2005, when about 8 hectares of forest were lost.

Forest lost each year around Guayaquil, 2001–2025

Hectares of forest lost each year

Forest lost each year around Guayaquil, 2001–2025. Use the left and right arrow keys to read each year.7.5

Show the figures as a table
Forest lost each year around Guayaquil, 2001–2025
YearCleared for goodCan grow backTotal
20011 haunder 1 ha2 ha
2002under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2003under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
20041 haunder 1 ha1 ha
20057 haunder 1 ha8 ha
2006under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
20071 haunder 1 ha2 ha
20082 haunder 1 ha2 ha
20091 haunder 1 ha1 ha
2010under 1 haunder 1 ha1 ha
2011under 1 haunder 1 ha1 ha
20122 haunder 1 ha3 ha
2013under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2014under 1 ha5 ha5 ha
2015under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2016under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2017under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2018under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2019under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2020under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2021under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2022under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2023under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2024under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha
2025under 1 haunder 1 haunder 1 ha

What is causing deforestation around Guayaquil?

  • Towns and roadscleared for good60% · 18 ha
  • Mining and energycleared for good6.3% · 2 ha
  • Storms, floods and other natural causescan grow back6.3% · 2 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
3,570 ha
Forest in 2020
3,860 ha
Overall change
+296 hamore forest than in 2000

Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Guayaquil grew from about 3,570 hectares to 3,860 hectares, a net gain of about 296 hectares (+8.3%). New forest grew on about 313 hectares, while 17 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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Guayaquil air quality (AQI) and tree cover — measured by Airleaf
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Frequently asked

Questions about Guayaquil

What is the air quality (AQI) in Guayaquil right now?

The latest reading for Guayaquil shows an AQI of 16 (Good), observed Nov 10, 10:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

Is it safe to exercise outside in Guayaquil today?

At AQI 16 (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 Guayaquil been like this week?

Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Guayaquil's daily AQI at 30 on average, from 19 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 60 on Nov 6. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.

How much forest has the area around Guayaquil lost since 2001?

Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Guayaquil has lost about 30 hectares of forest (about 42 football pitches): under 1% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (69%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Guayaquil grew from about 3,570 hectares to 3,860 hectares, a net gain of about 296 hectares (+8.3%). New forest grew on about 313 hectares, while 17 hectares were lost.

What is the tree count in Guayaquil?

Guayaquil has an estimated 14,680 trees across the 8.9 km² of land measured — 6.6% tree cover, 23 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.

How many more trees does Guayaquil need?

Guayaquil needs roughly 52,047 more trees to close a 23-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 1,145 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.

How are Guayaquil'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 La Bahia; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.

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