City report · Irkutsk Oblast, Russia
Irkutsk Air quality today
Air quality in Irkutsk currently reads AQI 10 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 10
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 1.6
- tree cover
- 27.1%
- trees in this area
- 70.2K
- more trees needed
- 7.5K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Pravoberezhnyy Okrug, Irkutsk, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 14, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Irkutsk · AQI 10 (Good)
Irkutsk's tree count comes to 70,238 trees across 10.37 km² of land, 3 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 7,516 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Irkutsk today: AQI 10, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 18:00 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
1.6
PM10
1.7
NO₂
5.0
O₃
82.0
SO₂
1.3
CO
150.0
- 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 Irkutsk's daily AQI at 31 on average, from 22 on Nov 11 to an hourly peak of 71 on Nov 5.
Where Irkutsk stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Irkutsk: Below target
27.1% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 10.37 km² of land.
Trees in this area
70,238
Target trees
77,754
More trees needed
7,516
CO₂ if planted / yr
165.4 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Irkutsk lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Irkutsk has lost about 569 hectares of forest (about 800 football pitches): 7.3% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (53%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northeast of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 569 haabout 800 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 7.3%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 301 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2015, when about 64 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 | 3 ha | 16 ha | 19 ha |
| 2002 | 2 ha | 49 ha | 51 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | 19 ha | 20 ha |
| 2004 | 6 ha | 16 ha | 22 ha |
| 2005 | 6 ha | 9 ha | 15 ha |
| 2006 | 4 ha | 16 ha | 20 ha |
| 2007 | 11 ha | 6 ha | 16 ha |
| 2008 | 15 ha | 24 ha | 39 ha |
| 2009 | 5 ha | 4 ha | 8 ha |
| 2010 | 8 ha | 30 ha | 37 ha |
| 2011 | under 1 ha | 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2012 | 38 ha | 4 ha | 42 ha |
| 2013 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 9 ha |
| 2014 | 31 ha | 15 ha | 46 ha |
| 2015 | 30 ha | 34 ha | 64 ha |
| 2016 | 15 ha | 12 ha | 27 ha |
| 2017 | 11 ha | 11 ha | 22 ha |
| 2018 | 25 ha | under 1 ha | 25 ha |
| 2019 | 11 ha | under 1 ha | 11 ha |
| 2020 | 13 ha | under 1 ha | 13 ha |
| 2021 | 27 ha | under 1 ha | 28 ha |
| 2022 | 12 ha | under 1 ha | 12 ha |
| 2023 | 11 ha | 1 ha | 12 ha |
| 2024 | 7 ha | under 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2025 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Irkutsk?
- Loggingcan grow back46% · 259 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good43% · 245 ha
- Mining and energycleared for good9.8% · 56 ha
Also: wildfires, storms, floods and other natural causes, 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
- 8,150 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 7,770 ha
- Overall change
- −379 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Irkutsk shrank from about 8,150 hectares to 7,770 hectares, a net loss of about 379 hectares (−4.7%). New forest grew on about 417 hectares, but 796 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 Irkutsk
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Angarsk38.9 km
Russia
- Tree cover
- 33%
- Air quality
- 9
- Darhan332.6 km
Mongolia
- Tree cover
- 1%
- Air quality
- 17
- Erdenet363.1 km
Mongolia
- Tree cover
- 1%
- Air quality
- 5
- Bratsk460.7 km
Russia
- Tree cover
- 47%
- Air quality
- 2
- Ulan Bator521.7 km
Mongolia
- Tree cover
- 4%
- Air quality
- 152
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Frequently asked
Questions about Irkutsk
What is the air quality (AQI) in Irkutsk right now?
The latest reading for Irkutsk shows an AQI of 10 (Good), observed Nov 11, 18:00 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 Irkutsk today?
At AQI 10 (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 Irkutsk been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Irkutsk's daily AQI at 31 on average, from 22 on Nov 11 to an hourly peak of 71 on Nov 5. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Irkutsk lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Irkutsk has lost about 569 hectares of forest (about 800 football pitches): 7.3% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (53%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Irkutsk shrank from about 8,150 hectares to 7,770 hectares, a net loss of about 379 hectares (−4.7%). New forest grew on about 417 hectares, but 796 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Irkutsk?
Irkutsk has an estimated 70,238 trees across the 10.37 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 Irkutsk need?
Irkutsk needs roughly 7,516 more trees to close a 3-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 165.4 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Irkutsk'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 Pravoberezhnyy Okrug; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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