City report · Shiga, Japan
Kusatsu Air quality today
Air quality in Kusatsu currently reads AQI 13 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Air quality right now
AQI 13
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 1.7
- tree cover
- 5.2%
- trees in this area
- 16.3K
- more trees needed
- 77.8K
Measured across a 2 km radius around 1 Chome-15 Kusatsu, Shiga 525-0034, Japan (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of May 19, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Kusatsu · AQI 13 (Good)
Kusatsu's tree count comes to 16,304 trees across 12.54 km² of land, 25 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 77,756 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Kusatsu today: AQI 13, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 10:00 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
1.7
PM10
2.3
NO₂
2.5
O₃
83.0
SO₂
1.2
CO
146.0
- 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 Kusatsu's daily AQI at 37 on average, from 19 on Nov 11 to an hourly peak of 71 on Nov 5.
Where Kusatsu stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Kusatsu: Critically low
5.2% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.54 km² of land.
Trees in this area
16,304
Target trees
94,060
More trees needed
77,756
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,711 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Kusatsu lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Kusatsu has lost about 277 hectares of forest (about 390 football pitches): 3.5% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (93%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km south of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 277 haabout 390 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 3.5%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 258 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2005, when about 40 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 | 5 ha | 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2002 | 15 ha | under 1 ha | 15 ha |
| 2003 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2004 | 15 ha | 2 ha | 16 ha |
| 2005 | 39 ha | under 1 ha | 40 ha |
| 2006 | 16 ha | 2 ha | 18 ha |
| 2007 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2008 | 13 ha | under 1 ha | 14 ha |
| 2009 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2010 | 4 ha | 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2011 | 12 ha | under 1 ha | 13 ha |
| 2012 | 6 ha | 2 ha | 8 ha |
| 2013 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2014 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2015 | 3 ha | 2 ha | 5 ha |
| 2016 | 4 ha | 2 ha | 6 ha |
| 2017 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2018 | 10 ha | under 1 ha | 10 ha |
| 2019 | 17 ha | under 1 ha | 17 ha |
| 2020 | 27 ha | under 1 ha | 27 ha |
| 2021 | 21 ha | under 1 ha | 21 ha |
| 2022 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2023 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2024 | 10 ha | under 1 ha | 11 ha |
| 2025 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Kusatsu?
- Towns and roadscleared for good83% · 229 ha
- Mining and energycleared for good11% · 29 ha
- Loggingcan grow back2.7% · 7 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
- 8,540 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 8,380 ha
- Overall change
- −161 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Kusatsu stayed about the same size, at about 8,380 hectares: new forest grew on about 72 hectares, and about 233 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 Kusatsu
What is the air quality (AQI) in Kusatsu right now?
The latest reading for Kusatsu shows an AQI of 13 (Good), observed Nov 11, 10:00 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 Kusatsu today?
At AQI 13 (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 Kusatsu been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Kusatsu's daily AQI at 37 on average, from 19 on Nov 11 to an hourly peak of 71 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 Kusatsu lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Kusatsu has lost about 277 hectares of forest (about 390 football pitches): 3.5% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (93%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Kusatsu stayed about the same size, at about 8,380 hectares: new forest grew on about 72 hectares, and about 233 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Kusatsu?
Kusatsu has an estimated 16,304 trees across the 12.54 km² of land measured — 5.2% tree cover, 25 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Kusatsu need?
Kusatsu needs roughly 77,756 more trees to close a 25-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 1,711 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Kusatsu'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 1 Chome-15 Kusatsu; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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