City report · Kenya
Kitale Air quality today
Air quality in Kitale currently reads AQI 43 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 43
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 8.8
- tree cover
- 53.9%
- trees in this area
- 169K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around Kitale, Kenya (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 24, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Kitale · AQI 43 (Good)
Kitale's tree count comes to 169,332 trees across 12.57 km², already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Kitale today: AQI 43, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 00:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Model estimate · no ground station nearby
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
8.8
PM10
9.0
NO₂
8.4
O₃
15.0
SO₂
1.0
CO
353.0
- Outdoor exercise
- A good day to be active outside
- Windows
- Open them to air the house
- Mask
- Not needed
- Air purifier
- Not needed
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Kitale's daily AQI at 40 on average, from 25 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 60 on Nov 5.
Where Kitale stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Kitale: Healthy tree cover
53.9% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
169,332
Target trees
169,332
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Kitale lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Kitale has lost about 423 hectares of forest (about 590 football pitches): 15% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (53%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 1 km northeast of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 423 haabout 590 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 15%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 226 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2023, when about 58 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 | 9 ha | 1 ha | 10 ha |
| 2002 | 2 ha | 2 ha | 4 ha |
| 2003 | 19 ha | 4 ha | 23 ha |
| 2004 | 8 ha | 2 ha | 10 ha |
| 2005 | 10 ha | 5 ha | 15 ha |
| 2006 | 6 ha | 2 ha | 8 ha |
| 2007 | 18 ha | 10 ha | 27 ha |
| 2008 | 15 ha | 8 ha | 23 ha |
| 2009 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2010 | 9 ha | under 1 ha | 10 ha |
| 2011 | 4 ha | 2 ha | 6 ha |
| 2012 | 12 ha | 2 ha | 14 ha |
| 2013 | 5 ha | 14 ha | 19 ha |
| 2014 | under 1 ha | 2 ha | 3 ha |
| 2015 | 2 ha | 8 ha | 10 ha |
| 2016 | 7 ha | 10 ha | 18 ha |
| 2017 | 7 ha | 3 ha | 10 ha |
| 2018 | 3 ha | 2 ha | 5 ha |
| 2019 | 8 ha | 36 ha | 43 ha |
| 2020 | 12 ha | 20 ha | 32 ha |
| 2021 | 10 ha | 5 ha | 15 ha |
| 2022 | 11 ha | 3 ha | 13 ha |
| 2023 | 21 ha | 37 ha | 58 ha |
| 2024 | 17 ha | 13 ha | 29 ha |
| 2025 | 7 ha | 8 ha | 15 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Kitale?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good51% · 214 ha
- Loggingcan grow back44% · 188 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good2.8% · 12 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
- 5,060 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 4,920 ha
- Overall change
- −135 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Kitale shrank from about 5,060 hectares to 4,920 hectares, a net loss of about 135 hectares (−2.7%). New forest grew on about 459 hectares, but 593 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 Kitale
What is the air quality (AQI) in Kitale right now?
The latest reading for Kitale shows an AQI of 43 (Good), observed Nov 11, 00:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Kitale today?
At AQI 43 (Good): a good day to be active outside. Windows: open them to air the house. Masks: not needed. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Kitale been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Kitale's daily AQI at 40 on average, from 25 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 60 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 Kitale lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Kitale has lost about 423 hectares of forest (about 590 football pitches): 15% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (53%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Kitale shrank from about 5,060 hectares to 4,920 hectares, a net loss of about 135 hectares (−2.7%). New forest grew on about 459 hectares, but 593 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Kitale?
Kitale has an estimated 169,332 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 53.9% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Kitale need?
Kitale has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Kitale'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 Kitale; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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