City report · Iraq
Kirkuk Air quality today
Air quality in Kirkuk currently reads AQI 82 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Air quality right now
AQI 82
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 26.9
- tree cover
- 2.9%
- trees in this area
- 9.1K
- more trees needed
- 85.1K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Kirkuk, Kirkuk Governorate, Iraq (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 24, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Kirkuk · AQI 82 (Moderate)
Kirkuk's tree count comes to 9,111 trees across 12.57 km², 27 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 85,137 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Kirkuk today: AQI 82, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 00:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 245 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 3 station cities within 245 km, e.g. Sulaymaniyah and Baghdad
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
26.9
PM10
9.5
NO₂
14.5
O₃
36.0
SO₂
13.8
CO
348.0
- 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 Kirkuk's daily AQI at 55 on average, from 29 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 90 on Nov 5.
Where Kirkuk stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Kirkuk: Critically low
2.9% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
9,111
Target trees
94,248
More trees needed
85,137
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,873 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Kirkuk lost?
There was almost no forest around Kirkuk 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.
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. Images: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data. How it's measured
In the same region
Measured cities near Kirkuk
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Ţūz Khūrmātū68.1 km
Iraq
- Tree cover
- 1%
- Air quality
- 82
- Khasnahzān84.5 km
Iraq
- Tree cover
- 0%
- Air quality
- 65
- Erbil87.5 km
Iraq
- Tree cover
- 5%
- Air quality
- 62
- Sulaymaniyah94.8 km
Iraq
- Tree cover
- 5%
- Air quality
- 132
- Rānyah98.0 km
Iraq
- Tree cover
- 2%
- Air quality
- 64
- Baḥarkah99.6 km
Iraq
- Tree cover
- 0%
- Air quality
- 78
Build your own
Compare Kirkuk with anywhere
This place
Kirkuk
Use this data
Put Kirkuk's numbers on your site
Free to embed. Updates itself as the measurement refreshes.
Frequently asked
Questions about Kirkuk
What is the air quality (AQI) in Kirkuk right now?
The latest reading for Kirkuk shows an AQI of 82 (Moderate), observed Nov 11, 00:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 245 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 Kirkuk today?
At AQI 82 (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 Kirkuk been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Kirkuk's daily AQI at 55 on average, from 29 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 90 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 Kirkuk lost since 2001?
There was almost no forest around Kirkuk 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.
What is the tree count in Kirkuk?
Kirkuk has an estimated 9,111 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 2.9% tree cover, 27 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Kirkuk need?
Kirkuk needs roughly 85,137 more trees to close a 27-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 1,873 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Kirkuk'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 Kirkuk; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
See your own area
What does your neighborhood look like?
Pick any point and radius to get the same air-quality and tree-cover breakdown.
Check my address