City report · Taiwan
Kaohsiung Air quality today
Air quality in Kaohsiung currently reads AQI 64 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Air quality right now
AQI 64
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 16.0
- tree cover
- 10.8%
- trees in this area
- 33.8K
- more trees needed
- 60.0K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Kaohsiung, Longzi Village, Gushan District, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 18, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Kaohsiung · AQI 64 (Moderate)
Kaohsiung's tree count comes to 33,760 trees across 12.51 km² of land, 19 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 60,017 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Kaohsiung today: AQI 64, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 12, 00:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · 高雄市 - 前鎮, 1.4 km away · median of 7 stations
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
16.0
PM10
43.0
NO₂
30.1
O₃
90.3
SO₂
4.5
CO
435.3
Data: OpenAQ · Taiwan, Ministry of Environment, Taiwan (Open Government Data License 1.0)
- 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 Kaohsiung's daily AQI at 105 on average, from 70 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 159 on Nov 7.
Where Kaohsiung stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Kaohsiung: Critically low
10.8% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.51 km² of land.
Trees in this area
33,760
Target trees
93,777
More trees needed
60,017
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,320 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Kaohsiung lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Kaohsiung has lost about 12 hectares of forest (about 16 football pitches): under 1% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (79%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 12 haabout 16 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- under 1%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 9 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2024, when about 3 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 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 | under 1 ha |
| 2009 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 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 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2025 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Kaohsiung?
- Towns and roadscleared for good60% · 7 ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good20% · 2 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown22% · 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
- 2,100 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 2,270 ha
- Overall change
- +174 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Kaohsiung grew from about 2,100 hectares to 2,270 hectares, a net gain of about 174 hectares (+8.3%). New forest grew on about 206 hectares, while 33 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 Kaohsiung
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Chiayi City96.9 km
Taiwan
- Tree cover
- 15%
- Air quality
- 73
- Douliu123.8 km
Taiwan
- Tree cover
- 30%
- Air quality
- 64
- Nantou148.9 km
Taiwan
- Tree cover
- 55%
- Air quality
- 60
- Yuanlin151.4 km
Taiwan
- Tree cover
- 18%
- Air quality
- 58
Also compared:Kaohsiung vs TaipeiKaohsiung vs Taichung
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Frequently asked
Questions about Kaohsiung
What is the air quality (AQI) in Kaohsiung right now?
The latest reading for Kaohsiung shows an AQI of 64 (Moderate), measured Nov 12, 00:00 local time by 7 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is 高雄市 - 前鎮, 1.4 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Kaohsiung today?
At AQI 64 (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 Kaohsiung been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Kaohsiung's daily AQI at 105 on average, from 70 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 159 on Nov 7. On 3 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Kaohsiung lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Kaohsiung has lost about 12 hectares of forest (about 16 football pitches): under 1% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (79%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Kaohsiung grew from about 2,100 hectares to 2,270 hectares, a net gain of about 174 hectares (+8.3%). New forest grew on about 206 hectares, while 33 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Kaohsiung?
Kaohsiung has an estimated 33,760 trees across the 12.51 km² of land measured — 10.8% tree cover, 19 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Kaohsiung need?
Kaohsiung needs roughly 60,017 more trees to close a 19-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 1,320 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Kaohsiung's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Kaohsiung, 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 Kaohsiung; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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