City report · Afghanistan
Kandahār Air quality today
Air quality in Kandahār currently reads AQI 59 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
AQI 59
Air quality right now
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 12.3
- tree cover
- 0.6%
- trees in this area
- 1.9K
- more trees needed
- 92.4K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Kandahar, Afghanistan (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 15, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Kandahār · AQI 59 (Moderate)
Kandahār's tree count comes to 1,885 trees across 12.57 km², 29 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 92,363 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Kandahār today: AQI 59, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 17:30 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Model estimate · no ground station nearby
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
12.3
PM10
27.3
NO₂
1.8
O₃
81.0
SO₂
1.5
CO
197.0
- Outdoor exercise
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier
- Windows
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution
- Mask
- Not needed for most people
- Air purifier
- Worth running if you are sensitive
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Kandahār's daily AQI at 53 on average, from 28 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 78 on Nov 6.
Where Kandahār stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Kandahār: Critically low
0.6% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
1,885
Target trees
94,248
More trees needed
92,363
CO₂ if planted / yr
2,032 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Kandahār lost?
There was almost no forest around Kandahār in 2000, so there has been almost nothing to lose 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 July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
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. Images: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data. How it's measured
In the same region
Measured cities near Kandahār
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Chaman104.7 km
Pakistan
- Tree cover
- 0%
- Air quality
- 72
- Quetta201.1 km
Pakistan
- Tree cover
- 1%
- Air quality
- 163
- Gardez396.4 km
Afghanistan
- Tree cover
- 2%
- Air quality
- 33
- Zābol405.6 km
Iran
- Tree cover
- 0%
- Air quality
- 75
- Dera Murad Jamali418.0 km
Pakistan
- Tree cover
- 4%
- Air quality
- 225
Also compared:Kandahār vs KabulKandahār vs HerātKandahār vs Mazār-e Sharīf
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Frequently asked
Questions about Kandahār
What is the air quality (AQI) in Kandahār right now?
The latest reading for Kandahār shows an AQI of 59 (Moderate), observed Nov 10, 17:30 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Kandahār today?
At AQI 59 (Moderate): fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier. Windows: fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution. Masks: not needed for most people. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Kandahār been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Kandahār's daily AQI at 53 on average, from 28 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 78 on Nov 6. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Kandahār lost since 2001?
There was almost no forest around Kandahār in 2000, so there has been almost nothing to lose since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here.
What is the tree count in Kandahār?
Kandahār has an estimated 1,885 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 0.6% tree cover, 29 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Kandahār need?
Kandahār needs roughly 92,363 more trees to close a 29-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 2,032 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Kandahār'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 Kandahar; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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