City report · Karbala, Iraq
Karbala Air quality today
Air quality in Karbala currently reads AQI 57 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Air quality right now
AQI 57
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 13.8
- tree cover
- 10.6%
- trees in this area
- 33.3K
- more trees needed
- 60.9K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Karbala, Karbala Governorate, 56001, Iraq (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 19, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Karbala · AQI 57 (Moderate)
Karbala's tree count comes to 33,301 trees across 12.57 km², 19 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 60,947 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Karbala today: AQI 57, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 19:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 105 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 2 station cities within 105 km, e.g. Baghdad and Baghdad
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
13.8
PM10
5.3
NO₂
8.2
O₃
58.0
SO₂
10.9
CO
215.0
- 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 Karbala's daily AQI at 72 on average, from 25 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 129 on Nov 7.
Where Karbala stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Karbala: Critically low
10.6% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
33,301
Target trees
94,248
More trees needed
60,947
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,341 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Karbala lost?
There was almost no forest around Karbala 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 August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Forest gained and lost, 2000–2020
- Forest in 2000
- 833 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 951 ha
- Overall change
- +118 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Karbala grew from about 833 hectares to 951 hectares, a net gain of about 118 hectares (+14%). New forest grew on about 120 hectares, while 1 hectare 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 Karbala
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Al Hindīyah20.5 km
Iraq
- Tree cover
- 13%
- Air quality
- 69
- Al-Musayab30.7 km
Iraq
- Tree cover
- 17%
- Air quality
- 122
- Abu Gharaq31.5 km
Iraq
- Tree cover
- 11%
- Air quality
- 65
- Al Hillah40.7 km
Iraq
- Tree cover
- 2%
- Air quality
- 72
- 42.6 km
- Tree cover
- 4%
- Air quality
- 58
- Al Maḩmūdīyah58.9 km
Iraq
- Tree cover
- 4%
- Air quality
- 54
Also compared:Karbala vs BaghdadKarbala vs Al Mawşil al JadīdahKarbala vs ErbilKarbala vs Basrah
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Frequently asked
Questions about Karbala
What is the air quality (AQI) in Karbala right now?
The latest reading for Karbala shows an AQI of 57 (Moderate), observed Nov 10, 19:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 105 km, 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 Karbala today?
At AQI 57 (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 Karbala been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Karbala's daily AQI at 72 on average, from 25 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 129 on Nov 7. On 1 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Karbala lost since 2001?
There was almost no forest around Karbala 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. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Karbala grew from about 833 hectares to 951 hectares, a net gain of about 118 hectares (+14%). New forest grew on about 120 hectares, while 1 hectare were lost.
What is the tree count in Karbala?
Karbala has an estimated 33,301 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 10.6% tree cover, 19 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Karbala need?
Karbala needs roughly 60,947 more trees to close a 19-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 1,341 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Karbala'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 Karbala; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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