City report · Heilongjiang, China
Harbin Air quality today
Air quality in Harbin currently reads AQI 156 (Unhealthy): Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
AQI 156
Air quality right now
Unhealthy
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 63.2
- tree cover
- 14.8%
- trees in this area
- 45.8K
- more trees needed
- 77.9K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Nangang, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 24, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Harbin · AQI 156 (Unhealthy)
Harbin's tree count comes to 45,752 trees across 12.37 km² of land, 25 points below the 40% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 77,901 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Harbin today: AQI 156, Unhealthy
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 12, 01:00 local time via World Air Quality Index Project ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Daowai Chengde Square, Haerbin (哈尔滨道外承德广场), 2.2 km away · median of 5 stations
Health signal
Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
PM2.5
63.2
PM10
105.5
NO₂
—
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Helongjiang Environmental Protection Agency (黑龙江省空气质量实时发布平台)
- Outdoor exercise
- Everyone should cut down long or hard exercise; sensitive groups should avoid it
- Windows
- Keep them closed
- Mask
- Wear an N95 outdoors
- Air purifier
- Run one
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Harbin's daily AQI at 112 on average, from 71 on Nov 6 to an hourly peak of 228 on Nov 5.
Where Harbin stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Harbin: Critically low
14.8% tree cover against a 40% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.37 km² of land.
Trees in this area
45,752
Target trees
123,653
More trees needed
77,901
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,714 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Harbin lost?
There was very little forest around Harbin in 2000, about 87 hectares, and about 11 hectares of it has been lost since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here.
2017: satellite photo from June 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
The worst year was 2004, when about 2 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 | 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 | 1 ha | 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2005 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 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 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2010 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2011 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 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 Harbin?
- Towns and roadscleared for good71% · 8 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown27% · 3 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
- 226 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 388 ha
- Overall change
- +162 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Harbin grew from about 226 hectares to 388 hectares, a net gain of about 162 hectares (+72%). New forest grew on about 166 hectares, while 4 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 Harbin
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Hulan16.9 km
China
- Tree cover
- 22%
- Air quality
- 163
- Acheng32.7 km
China
- Tree cover
- 13%
- Air quality
- 611
- Shuangcheng49.1 km
China
- Tree cover
- 8%
- Air quality
- 547
- Zhaodong63.4 km
China
- Tree cover
- 19%
- Air quality
- 363
- Suihua102.8 km
China
- Tree cover
- 17%
- Air quality
- 291
- Yushu, Jilin102.9 km
China
- Tree cover
- 7%
- Air quality
- 190
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Frequently asked
Questions about Harbin
What is the air quality (AQI) in Harbin right now?
The latest reading for Harbin shows an AQI of 156 (Unhealthy), measured Nov 12, 01:00 local time by 5 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Daowai Chengde Square, Haerbin (哈尔滨道外承德广场), 2.2 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Harbin today?
At AQI 156 (Unhealthy): everyone should cut down long or hard exercise; sensitive groups should avoid it. Windows: keep them closed. Masks: wear an N95 outdoors. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Harbin been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Harbin's daily AQI at 112 on average, from 71 on Nov 6 to an hourly peak of 228 on Nov 5. On 4 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Harbin lost since 2001?
There was very little forest around Harbin in 2000, about 87 hectares, and about 11 hectares of it has been lost since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Harbin grew from about 226 hectares to 388 hectares, a net gain of about 162 hectares (+72%). New forest grew on about 166 hectares, while 4 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Harbin?
Harbin has an estimated 45,752 trees across the 12.37 km² of land measured — 14.8% tree cover, 25 percentage points short of the 40% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Harbin need?
Harbin needs roughly 77,901 more trees to close a 25-point shortfall against its 40% tree-cover target — about 1,714 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Harbin's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Nangang, 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 Nangang; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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