City report · Karaganda, Kazakhstan
Karagandy Air quality today
Air quality in Karagandy currently reads AQI 148 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Air quality right now
AQI 148
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 54.5
- tree cover
- 26.1%
- trees in this area
- 81.2K
- more trees needed
- 27.7K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Novy Gorod, 100000 Karaganda, Kazakhstan (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 17, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Karagandy · AQI 148 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups)
Karagandy's tree count comes to 81,176 trees across 12.44 km² of land, 9 points below the 35% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 27,681 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Karagandy today: AQI 148, Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 21:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Erubaeva, 1.4 km away · median of 2 stations
Health signal
Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
PM2.5
54.5
PM10
—
NO₂
—
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Arai
- Outdoor exercise
- Children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise
- Windows
- Close them to keep the outside air out
- Mask
- Sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors
- Air purifier
- Run one, especially in bedrooms
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Karagandy's daily AQI at 45 on average, from 21 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 118 on Nov 5.
Where Karagandy stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Karagandy: Below target
26.1% tree cover against a 35% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.44 km² of land.
Trees in this area
81,176
Target trees
108,857
More trees needed
27,681
CO₂ if planted / yr
609.0 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Karagandy lost?
There was very little forest around Karagandy in 2000, about 92 hectares, and about 7 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 2024, 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 | 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 | under 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 | 2 ha | 2 ha |
| 2023 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2024 | under 1 ha | 2 ha | 2 ha |
| 2025 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Karagandy?
- Loggingcan grow back45% · 3 ha
- Wildfirescan grow back19% · 1 ha
- Mining and energycleared for good16% · 1 ha
Also: storms, floods and other natural causes, 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
- 533 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 648 ha
- Overall change
- +115 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Karagandy grew from about 533 hectares to 648 hectares, a net gain of about 115 hectares (+22%). New forest grew on about 116 hectares, while 2 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 Karagandy
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Temirtau29.7 km
Kazakhstan
- Tree cover
- 16%
- Air quality
- 97
- Ekibastuz264.7 km
Kazakhstan
- Tree cover
- 6%
- Air quality
- 91
- Pavlodar385.6 km
Kazakhstan
- Tree cover
- 26%
- Air quality
- 9
- Zhezqazghan453.8 km
Kazakhstan
- Tree cover
- 9%
- Air quality
- 18
- Kokshetau464.3 km
Kazakhstan
- Tree cover
- 13%
- Air quality
- 15
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Frequently asked
Questions about Karagandy
What is the air quality (AQI) in Karagandy right now?
The latest reading for Karagandy shows an AQI of 148 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups), measured Nov 11, 21:00 local time by 2 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Erubaeva, 1.4 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Karagandy today?
At AQI 148 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups): children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise. Windows: close them to keep the outside air out. Masks: sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Karagandy been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Karagandy's daily AQI at 45 on average, from 21 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 118 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 Karagandy lost since 2001?
There was very little forest around Karagandy in 2000, about 92 hectares, and about 7 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 Karagandy grew from about 533 hectares to 648 hectares, a net gain of about 115 hectares (+22%). New forest grew on about 116 hectares, while 2 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Karagandy?
Karagandy has an estimated 81,176 trees across the 12.44 km² of land measured — 26.1% tree cover, 9 percentage points short of the 35% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Karagandy need?
Karagandy needs roughly 27,681 more trees to close a 9-point shortfall against its 35% tree-cover target — about 609.0 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Karagandy's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Novy Gorod, 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 Novy Gorod; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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