City report · New Zealand
Hamilton Air quality today
Air quality in Hamilton currently reads AQI 45 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 45
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 7.5
- tree cover
- 27.1%
- trees in this area
- 81.5K
- more trees needed
- 8.7K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Claudelands, Hamilton 3214, New Zealand (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Mar 3, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Hamilton · AQI 45 (Good)
Hamilton's tree count comes to 81,476 trees across 12.03 km² of land, 3 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 8,719 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Hamilton today: AQI 45, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 20:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 125 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 2 station cities within 125 km, e.g. Auckland and Auckland
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
7.5
PM10
5.6
NO₂
1.7
O₃
31.0
SO₂
0.4
CO
75.0
- 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 Hamilton's daily AQI at 15 on average, from 8 on Nov 7 to an hourly peak of 44 on Nov 9.
Where Hamilton stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Hamilton: Below target
27.1% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.03 km² of land.
Trees in this area
81,476
Target trees
90,195
More trees needed
8,719
CO₂ if planted / yr
191.8 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Hamilton lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Hamilton has lost about 125 hectares of forest (about 170 football pitches): 9.7% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (87%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2019: satellite photo from February 2019 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 125 haabout 170 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 9.7%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 108 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2012, when about 15 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 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2002 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2003 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2004 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2005 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2006 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2007 | 13 ha | 2 ha | 14 ha |
| 2008 | 7 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2009 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2010 | 5 ha | 2 ha | 7 ha |
| 2011 | 2 ha | 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2012 | 12 ha | 3 ha | 15 ha |
| 2013 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2014 | 12 ha | under 1 ha | 13 ha |
| 2015 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2016 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2017 | 9 ha | under 1 ha | 10 ha |
| 2018 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2019 | 9 ha | under 1 ha | 10 ha |
| 2020 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2021 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2022 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2023 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2024 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2025 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Hamilton?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good58% · 73 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good29% · 36 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown13% · 17 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
- 1,220 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 1,290 ha
- Overall change
- +67 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Hamilton grew from about 1,220 hectares to 1,290 hectares, a net gain of about 67 hectares (+5.5%). New forest grew on about 156 hectares, while 89 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 Hamilton
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Manukau City94.8 km
New Zealand
- Tree cover
- 17%
- Air quality
- 57
- Lower Hutt383.1 km
New Zealand
- Tree cover
- 33%
- Air quality
- 23
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Frequently asked
Questions about Hamilton
What is the air quality (AQI) in Hamilton right now?
The latest reading for Hamilton shows an AQI of 45 (Good), observed Nov 11, 20:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 125 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Hamilton today?
At AQI 45 (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 Hamilton been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Hamilton's daily AQI at 15 on average, from 8 on Nov 7 to an hourly peak of 44 on Nov 9. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Hamilton lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Hamilton has lost about 125 hectares of forest (about 170 football pitches): 9.7% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (87%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Hamilton grew from about 1,220 hectares to 1,290 hectares, a net gain of about 67 hectares (+5.5%). New forest grew on about 156 hectares, while 89 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Hamilton?
Hamilton has an estimated 81,476 trees across the 12.03 km² of land measured — 27.1% tree cover, 3 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Hamilton need?
Hamilton needs roughly 8,719 more trees to close a 3-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 191.8 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Hamilton'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 Claudelands; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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