City report · Kakamega County, Kenya
Khwisero Air quality today
Air quality in Khwisero currently reads AQI 121 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
AQI 121
Air quality right now
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 53.3
- tree cover
- 64.3%
- trees in this area
- 202K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around Khwisero, Kakamega, Kenya (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 12, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Khwisero · AQI 121 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups)
Khwisero's tree count comes to 202,004 trees across 12.57 km², already at or above the 35% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Khwisero today: AQI 121, Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 21:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 225 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 3 station cities within 225 km, e.g. Mukono and Kampala
Health signal
Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
PM2.5
53.3
PM10
33.8
NO₂
16.2
O₃
74.0
SO₂
3.3
CO
983.0
- 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 Khwisero's daily AQI at 79 on average, from 66 on Nov 6 to an hourly peak of 140 on Nov 5.
Where Khwisero stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Khwisero: Healthy tree cover
64.3% tree cover against a 35% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
202,004
Target trees
202,004
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Khwisero lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Khwisero has lost about 261 hectares of forest (about 370 football pitches): 6.7% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (91%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from June 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 261 haabout 370 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 6.7%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 236 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2007, when about 45 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 | 24 ha | 2 ha | 26 ha |
| 2002 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 9 ha |
| 2003 | 17 ha | 2 ha | 19 ha |
| 2004 | 10 ha | under 1 ha | 11 ha |
| 2005 | 8 ha | 1 ha | 9 ha |
| 2006 | 11 ha | 1 ha | 13 ha |
| 2007 | 42 ha | 2 ha | 45 ha |
| 2008 | 15 ha | 2 ha | 17 ha |
| 2009 | 18 ha | 2 ha | 20 ha |
| 2010 | 9 ha | under 1 ha | 10 ha |
| 2011 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2012 | 11 ha | under 1 ha | 11 ha |
| 2013 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2014 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2015 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2016 | 2 ha | 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2017 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2018 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2019 | 7 ha | 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2020 | 9 ha | under 1 ha | 10 ha |
| 2021 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2022 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2023 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2024 | 7 ha | 2 ha | 9 ha |
| 2025 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Khwisero?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good87% · 227 ha
- Loggingcan grow back4.1% · 11 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good3.4% · 9 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
- 10,400 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 10,600 ha
- Overall change
- +190 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Khwisero stayed about the same size, at about 10,600 hectares: new forest grew on about 360 hectares, and about 169 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 Khwisero
What is the air quality (AQI) in Khwisero right now?
The latest reading for Khwisero shows an AQI of 121 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups), observed Nov 10, 21:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 225 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Khwisero today?
At AQI 121 (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 Khwisero been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Khwisero's daily AQI at 79 on average, from 66 on Nov 6 to an hourly peak of 140 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 Khwisero lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Khwisero has lost about 261 hectares of forest (about 370 football pitches): 6.7% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (91%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Khwisero stayed about the same size, at about 10,600 hectares: new forest grew on about 360 hectares, and about 169 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Khwisero?
Khwisero has an estimated 202,004 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 64.3% tree cover, already past the 35% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Khwisero need?
Khwisero has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Khwisero'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 Khwisero; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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