City report · Greece
Irákleion Air quality today
Air quality in Irákleion currently reads AQI 44 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 44
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 8.0
- tree cover
- 8.6%
- trees in this area
- 26.0K
- more trees needed
- 64.7K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Heraklion, Greece (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 13, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Irákleion · AQI 44 (Good)
Irákleion's tree count comes to 26,018 trees across 12.1 km² of land, 21 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 64,743 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Irákleion today: AQI 44, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 18:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · HERAKLION-2, 700 m away · median of 2 stations
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
8.0
PM10
18.0
NO₂
12.5
O₃
62.0
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: OpenAQ · EEA
- 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 Irákleion's daily AQI at 28 on average, from 24 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 47 on Nov 9.
Where Irákleion stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Irákleion: Critically low
8.6% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.1 km² of land.
Trees in this area
26,018
Target trees
90,761
More trees needed
64,743
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,424 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Irákleion lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Irákleion has lost about 8 hectares of forest (about 12 football pitches): 4% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (74%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 8 haabout 12 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 4%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 6 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2004, when about 1 hectare 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 | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2005 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 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 | 1 ha |
| 2009 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2010 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2011 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 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 Irákleion?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good68% · 6 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good3.6% · under 1 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown26% · 2 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
- 964 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 984 ha
- Overall change
- +20 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Irákleion grew from about 964 hectares to 984 hectares, a net gain of about 20 hectares (+2.1%). New forest grew on about 33 hectares, while 13 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 Irákleion
What is the air quality (AQI) in Irákleion right now?
The latest reading for Irákleion shows an AQI of 44 (Good), measured Nov 11, 18:00 local time by 2 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is HERAKLION-2, 700 m away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Irákleion today?
At AQI 44 (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 Irákleion been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Irákleion's daily AQI at 28 on average, from 24 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 47 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 Irákleion lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Irákleion has lost about 8 hectares of forest (about 12 football pitches): 4% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (74%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Irákleion grew from about 964 hectares to 984 hectares, a net gain of about 20 hectares (+2.1%). New forest grew on about 33 hectares, while 13 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Irákleion?
Irákleion has an estimated 26,018 trees across the 12.1 km² of land measured — 8.6% tree cover, 21 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Irákleion need?
Irákleion needs roughly 64,743 more trees to close a 21-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 1,424 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Irákleion's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Heraklion, 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 Heraklion; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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