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Air quality now: AQI48Good, Kota Bharu

City report · Kelantan, Malaysia

Kota Bharu Air quality today

Air quality in Kota Bharu currently reads AQI 48 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

AQI 48

Air quality right now

Good

Main pollutant: PM2.5
PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
8.6
tree cover
20.1%
trees in this area
59.5K
more trees needed
29.3K

Measured across a 2 km radius around Bandar Kota Bharu, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Aug 27, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.

Kota Bharu · AQI 48 (Good)

Dark green marks tree cover detected inside the study radius.Sentinel-2 L2A (ESA Copernicus) via Earth Search, captured Aug 27, 2026

Kota Bharu's tree count comes to 59,547 trees across 11.85 km² of land, 10 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 29,329 more trees would close the gap.

Air quality detail

Air quality in Kota Bharu today: AQI 48, Good

Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 23:00 local time via World Air Quality Index Project ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.

Ground station · Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia, 2.7 km away

Health signal

Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

PM2.5

8.6

PM10

24.8

NO₂

—

O₃

—

SO₂

—

CO

—

Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Malaysia Department of Environment (DOE); Air Polluant Index Management System

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 Kota Bharu's daily AQI at 23 on average, from 17 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 44 on Nov 6.

Last 7 days · model estimateavg 23 · peak 44
Nov 5: AQI 27 (peak 37)Nov 6: AQI 25 (peak 44)Nov 7: AQI 20 (peak 39)Nov 8: AQI 19 (peak 38)Nov 9: AQI 17 (peak 42)Nov 10: AQI 25 (peak 44)Nov 11: AQI 25 (peak 27)
Nov 5Nov 11

This is the US EPA AQI. How it differs from Malaysia's API (IPU) · The full guide

Where Kota Bharu stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest

Tree cover detail

Tree cover in Kota Bharu: Below target

20.1% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 11.85 km² of land.

10 points below target

Trees in this area

59,547

Target trees

88,876

More trees needed

29,329

CO₂ if planted / yr

645.2 t

Deforestation · 2001–2025

How much forest has Kota Bharu lost?

Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Kota Bharu has lost about 1,190 hectares of forest (about 1,700 football pitches): 12% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (over 99%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.

Satellite image of the area around Kota Bharu, March 2017

2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 6 km south of the city center.

Forest lost since 2001
1,190 haabout 1,700 football pitches
Share of its forest
12%of what there was in 2000
Cleared for good
1,190 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns

Forest loss is speeding up: about 74 hectares a year in 2021–2025, up from 56 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2024, when about 208 hectares of forest were lost.

Forest lost each year around Kota Bharu, 2001–2025

Hectares of forest lost each year

Forest lost each year around Kota Bharu, 2001–2025. Use the left and right arrow keys to read each year.208

Show the figures as a table
Forest lost each year around Kota Bharu, 2001–2025
YearCleared for goodCan grow backTotal
200128 haunder 1 ha28 ha
200221 haunder 1 ha21 ha
200318 haunder 1 ha18 ha
200419 haunder 1 ha19 ha
200519 haunder 1 ha19 ha
200623 haunder 1 ha23 ha
200757 haunder 1 ha57 ha
20086 haunder 1 ha6 ha
200952 haunder 1 ha52 ha
201056 haunder 1 ha56 ha
201133 haunder 1 ha33 ha
201244 ha1 ha45 ha
201312 haunder 1 ha12 ha
201498 haunder 1 ha98 ha
201555 haunder 1 ha55 ha
201684 haunder 1 ha85 ha
201765 haunder 1 ha65 ha
201838 haunder 1 ha38 ha
201956 haunder 1 ha56 ha
202038 haunder 1 ha38 ha
202146 haunder 1 ha46 ha
202223 haunder 1 ha23 ha
202361 haunder 1 ha61 ha
2024208 haunder 1 ha208 ha
202530 haunder 1 ha30 ha

What is causing deforestation around Kota Bharu?

  • Towns and roadscleared for good62% · 734 ha
  • Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good38% · 452 ha

Also: storms, floods and other natural causes, 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
12,700 ha
Forest in 2020
11,800 ha
Overall change
−853 haless forest than in 2000

Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Kota Bharu shrank from about 12,700 hectares to 11,800 hectares, a net loss of about 853 hectares (−6.7%). New forest grew on about 189 hectares, but 1,040 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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Kota Bharu air quality (AQI) and tree cover — measured by Airleaf
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Frequently asked

Questions about Kota Bharu

What is the air quality (AQI) in Kota Bharu right now?

The latest reading for Kota Bharu shows an AQI of 48 (Good), measured Nov 11, 23:00 local time by the Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia ground monitoring station, 2.7 km away, via OpenAQ. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

Is it safe to exercise outside in Kota Bharu today?

At AQI 48 (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 Kota Bharu been like this week?

Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Kota Bharu's daily AQI at 23 on average, from 17 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 44 on Nov 6. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Is Kota Bharu's AQI the same as Malaysia's API (IPU)?

No. Airleaf shows the US EPA Air Quality Index (AQI), the scale used by IQAir and most air-quality apps. Malaysia's Department of Environment (Jabatan Alam Sekitar) publishes its own Air Pollutant Index, the API or Indeks Pencemar Udara (IPU), every hour for each of its monitoring stations on APIMS (apims.doe.gov.my). Both scales call 0–50 good and 51–100 moderate; above that the IPU runs 101–200 unhealthy, 201–300 very unhealthy and over 300 hazardous. The two use different breakpoints and averaging times, so the numbers for the same hour often differ. For the official IPU reading, check the nearest station on APIMS.

How much forest has the area around Kota Bharu lost since 2001?

Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Kota Bharu has lost about 1,190 hectares of forest (about 1,700 football pitches): 12% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (over 99%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Forest loss is speeding up: about 74 hectares a year in 2021–2025, up from 56 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Kota Bharu shrank from about 12,700 hectares to 11,800 hectares, a net loss of about 853 hectares (−6.7%). New forest grew on about 189 hectares, but 1,040 hectares were lost.

What is the tree count in Kota Bharu?

Kota Bharu has an estimated 59,547 trees across the 11.85 km² of land measured — 20.1% tree cover, 10 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.

How many more trees does Kota Bharu need?

Kota Bharu needs roughly 29,329 more trees to close a 10-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 645.2 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.

How are Kota Bharu's air quality and tree cover measured?

Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Bandar Kota Bharu, 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 Bandar Kota Bharu; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.

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