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Air quality now: AQI19Good, Halifax

City report · Nova Scotia, Canada

Halifax Air quality today

Air quality in Halifax currently reads AQI 19 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

AQI 19

Air quality right now

Good

Main pollutant: PM2.5
PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
3.4
tree cover
37.1%
trees in this area
77.6K
more trees needed
0

Measured across a 2 km radius around Downtown Halifax, Halifax, NS, Canada (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Aug 30, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.

Halifax · AQI 19 (Good)

Dark green marks tree cover detected inside the study radius.Sentinel-2 L2A (ESA Copernicus) via Earth Search, captured Aug 30, 2026

Halifax's tree count comes to 77,624 trees across 8.37 km² of land, already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.

Air quality detail

Air quality in Halifax today: AQI 19, Good

Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 11:00 local time via World Air Quality Index Project ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.

Ground station · Halifax Johnston, Nova Scotia, Canada, 600 m away

Health signal

Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

PM2.5

3.4

PM10

—

NO₂

—

O₃

—

SO₂

—

CO

—

Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Nova Scotia Environment

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 Halifax's daily AQI at 26 on average, from 10 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 59 on Nov 5.

Last 7 days · model estimateavg 26 · peak 59
Nov 4: AQI 50 (peak 58)Nov 5: AQI 51 (peak 59)Nov 6: AQI 21 (peak 27)Nov 7: AQI 16 (peak 34)Nov 8: AQI 10 (peak 26)Nov 9: AQI 13 (peak 39)Nov 10: AQI 24 (peak 42)
Nov 4Nov 10

This is the US EPA AQI. How it differs from Canada's AQHI

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

Tree cover detail

Tree cover in Halifax: Healthy tree cover

37.1% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 8.37 km² of land.

Target reached

Trees in this area

77,624

Target trees

77,624

More trees needed

0

CO₂ if planted / yr

0 kg

Deforestation · 2001–2025

How much forest has Halifax lost?

Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Halifax has lost about 2,100 hectares of forest (about 2,900 football pitches): 15% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (72%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.

Satellite image of the area around Halifax, June 2017

2017: satellite photo from June 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km north of the city center.

Forest lost since 2001
2,100 haabout 2,900 football pitches
Share of its forest
15%of what there was in 2000
Cleared for good
1,520 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns

Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 51 hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 49 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2004, when about 440 hectares of forest were lost.

Forest lost each year around Halifax, 2001–2025

Hectares of forest lost each year

Forest lost each year around Halifax, 2001–2025. Use the left and right arrow keys to read each year.440

Show the figures as a table
Forest lost each year around Halifax, 2001–2025
YearCleared for goodCan grow backTotal
200140 ha4 ha44 ha
200233 ha7 ha40 ha
200320 ha49 ha68 ha
2004192 ha248 ha440 ha
2005112 ha16 ha128 ha
200698 ha33 ha131 ha
2007110 ha4 ha114 ha
200872 ha20 ha92 ha
200946 ha122 ha168 ha
201010 ha4 ha14 ha
201163 ha6 ha69 ha
201267 ha23 ha90 ha
201355 haunder 1 ha55 ha
2014106 ha1 ha107 ha
201541 ha5 ha46 ha
201649 ha3 ha52 ha
201723 haunder 1 ha24 ha
201821 ha10 ha31 ha
201973 ha2 ha74 ha
202060 ha4 ha64 ha
202122 haunder 1 ha22 ha
2022103 ha13 ha116 ha
202324 ha1 ha25 ha
202423 ha7 ha30 ha
202557 ha5 ha63 ha

What is causing deforestation around Halifax?

  • Towns and roadscleared for good66% · 1,390 ha
  • Loggingcan grow back16% · 328 ha
  • Wildfirescan grow back12% · 248 ha

Also: mining and energy, farms, pasture and plantations, storms, floods and other natural causes, 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
11,900 ha
Forest in 2020
10,900 ha
Overall change
−963 haless forest than in 2000

Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Halifax shrank from about 11,900 hectares to 10,900 hectares, a net loss of about 963 hectares (−8.1%). New forest grew on about 399 hectares, but 1,360 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 Halifax

Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.

  • Sydney

    Canada

    312.7 km
    Tree cover
    32%
    Air quality
    20
  • Saint-Pierre

    Saint Pierre and Miquelon

    621.4 km
    Tree cover
    24%
    Air quality
    22
  • Québec

    Canada

    639.7 km
    Tree cover
    22%
    Air quality
    17
  • Boston

    United States

    654.5 km
    Tree cover
    12%
    Air quality
    23
  • Manchester

    United States

    657.7 km
    Tree cover
    34%
    Air quality
    26
  • Sherbrooke

    Canada

    659.2 km
    Tree cover
    40%
    Air quality
    16

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Halifax air quality (AQI) and tree cover — measured by Airleaf
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Frequently asked

Questions about Halifax

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

The latest reading for Halifax shows an AQI of 19 (Good), measured Nov 11, 11:00 local time by the Halifax Johnston, Nova Scotia, Canada ground monitoring station, 600 m away, via OpenAQ. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

Is it safe to exercise outside in Halifax today?

At AQI 19 (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 Halifax been like this week?

Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Halifax's daily AQI at 26 on average, from 10 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 59 on Nov 5. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Is Halifax'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 Halifax lost since 2001?

Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Halifax has lost about 2,100 hectares of forest (about 2,900 football pitches): 15% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (72%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 51 hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 49 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Halifax shrank from about 11,900 hectares to 10,900 hectares, a net loss of about 963 hectares (−8.1%). New forest grew on about 399 hectares, but 1,360 hectares were lost.

What is the tree count in Halifax?

Halifax has an estimated 77,624 trees across the 8.37 km² of land measured — 37.1% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.

How many more trees does Halifax need?

Halifax has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.

How are Halifax's air quality and tree cover measured?

Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Downtown Halifax, 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 Halifax; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.

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