City report · Malawi
Karonga Air quality today
Air quality in Karonga currently reads AQI 129 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
AQI 129
Air quality right now
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 47.0
- tree cover
- 14.3%
- trees in this area
- 41.4K
- more trees needed
- 59.9K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Karonga, Malawi (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 17, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Karonga · AQI 129 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups)
Karonga's tree count comes to 41,376 trees across 11.58 km² of land, 21 points below the 35% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 59,894 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Karonga today: AQI 129, Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 18:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Karonga-MIfCAS, 1.5 km away · median of 2 stations
Health signal
Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
PM2.5
47.0
PM10
—
NO₂
—
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, MIfCAS
- 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 Karonga's daily AQI at 71 on average, from 60 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 103 on Nov 4.
Where Karonga stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Karonga: Critically low
14.3% tree cover against a 35% healthy-neighborhood target, across 11.58 km² of land.
Trees in this area
41,376
Target trees
101,270
More trees needed
59,894
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,318 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Karonga lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Karonga has lost about 37 hectares of forest (about 51 football pitches): 7.9% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (92%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 37 haabout 51 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 7.9%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 34 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2015, when about 8 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 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 4 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 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2008 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2009 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2010 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2011 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2012 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2013 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2014 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2015 | 7 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2016 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 6 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2025 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Karonga?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good79% · 29 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good13% · 5 ha
- Loggingcan grow back1.6% · under 1 ha
Also: 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
- 659 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 458 ha
- Overall change
- −201 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Karonga shrank from about 659 hectares to 458 hectares, a net loss of about 201 hectares (−31%). New forest grew on about 2 hectares, but 203 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
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Frequently asked
Questions about Karonga
What is the air quality (AQI) in Karonga right now?
The latest reading for Karonga shows an AQI of 129 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups), measured Nov 11, 18:00 local time by 2 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Karonga-MIfCAS, 1.5 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Karonga today?
At AQI 129 (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 Karonga been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Karonga's daily AQI at 71 on average, from 60 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 103 on Nov 4. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Karonga lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Karonga has lost about 37 hectares of forest (about 51 football pitches): 7.9% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (92%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Karonga shrank from about 659 hectares to 458 hectares, a net loss of about 201 hectares (−31%). New forest grew on about 2 hectares, but 203 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Karonga?
Karonga has an estimated 41,376 trees across the 11.58 km² of land measured — 14.3% tree cover, 21 percentage points short of the 35% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Karonga need?
Karonga needs roughly 59,894 more trees to close a 21-point shortfall against its 35% tree-cover target — about 1,318 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Karonga's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Karonga, 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 Karonga; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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