City report · Kajiado County, Kenya
Kitengela Air quality today
Air quality in Kitengela currently reads AQI 74 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
AQI 74
Air quality right now
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 20.8
- tree cover
- 5.8%
- trees in this area
- 18.2K
- more trees needed
- 76.0K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Kitengela, Kenya (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 24, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Kitengela · AQI 74 (Moderate)
Kitengela's tree count comes to 18,221 trees across 12.57 km², 24 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 76,027 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Kitengela today: AQI 74, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 02:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 7 ground-station cities within 45 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 7 station cities within 45 km, e.g. Ongata Rongai and Nairobi
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
20.8
PM10
5.7
NO₂
7.4
O₃
30.0
SO₂
2.1
CO
344.0
- 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 Kitengela's daily AQI at 26 on average, from 18 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 48 on Nov 5.
Where Kitengela stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Kitengela: Critically low
5.8% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
18,221
Target trees
94,248
More trees needed
76,027
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,673 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Kitengela lost?
There was almost no forest around Kitengela 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 January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Forest gained and lost, 2000–2020
- Forest in 2000
- 144 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 168 ha
- Overall change
- +24 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Kitengela grew from about 144 hectares to 168 hectares, a net gain of about 24 hectares (+17%). New forest grew on about 31 hectares, while 7 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 Kitengela
What is the air quality (AQI) in Kitengela right now?
The latest reading for Kitengela shows an AQI of 74 (Moderate), observed Nov 11, 02:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 7 ground-station cities within 45 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 Kitengela today?
At AQI 74 (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 Kitengela been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Kitengela's daily AQI at 26 on average, from 18 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 48 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 Kitengela lost since 2001?
There was almost no forest around Kitengela 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 Kitengela grew from about 144 hectares to 168 hectares, a net gain of about 24 hectares (+17%). New forest grew on about 31 hectares, while 7 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Kitengela?
Kitengela has an estimated 18,221 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 5.8% tree cover, 24 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Kitengela need?
Kitengela needs roughly 76,027 more trees to close a 24-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 1,673 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Kitengela'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 Kitengela; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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