City report · KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Ladysmith Air quality today
Air quality in Ladysmith currently reads AQI 41 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Air quality right now
AQI 41
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 6.1
- tree cover
- 29.2%
- trees in this area
- 91.7K
- more trees needed
- 2.5K
Measured across a 2 km radius around uMnambithi, South Africa (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 24, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Ladysmith · AQI 41 (Good)
Ladysmith's tree count comes to 91,735 trees across 12.57 km², 1 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 2,513 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Ladysmith today: AQI 41, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 08:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 4 ground-station cities within 185 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 4 station cities within 185 km, e.g. Pietermaritzburg and KwaDukuza
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
6.1
PM10
6.6
NO₂
1.4
O₃
99.0
SO₂
5.4
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 Ladysmith's daily AQI at 37 on average, from 5 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 74 on Nov 10.
Where Ladysmith stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Ladysmith: Below target
29.2% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
91,735
Target trees
94,248
More trees needed
2,513
CO₂ if planted / yr
55.3 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Ladysmith lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Ladysmith has lost about 5 hectares of forest (about 7 football pitches): 2.3% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (89%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 5 haabout 7 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 2.3%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 4 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2009, when about 2 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2002 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2005 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2006 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2007 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2008 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2009 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2010 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2011 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2012 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2013 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2014 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2015 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2016 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2017 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2018 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2019 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2020 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2021 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2022 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2023 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2024 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2025 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Ladysmith?
- Towns and roadscleared for good53% · 3 ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good34% · 2 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown8.5% · under 1 ha
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
- 1,540 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 1,570 ha
- Overall change
- +30 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Ladysmith stayed about the same size, at about 1,570 hectares: new forest grew on about 45 hectares, and about 15 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
In the same region
Measured cities near Ladysmith
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Newcastle90.3 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 13%
- Air quality
- 49
- Pietermaritzburg131.9 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 36%
- Air quality
- 69
- Vryheid132.5 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 33%
- Air quality
- 13
- Butha-Buthe151.0 km
Lesotho
- Tree cover
- 10%
- Air quality
- 19
- Mpumalanga162.4 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 24%
- Air quality
- 117
- KwaDukuza170.1 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 44%
- Air quality
- 31
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Frequently asked
Questions about Ladysmith
What is the air quality (AQI) in Ladysmith right now?
The latest reading for Ladysmith shows an AQI of 41 (Good), observed Nov 11, 08:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 4 ground-station cities within 185 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Ladysmith today?
At AQI 41 (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 Ladysmith been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Ladysmith's daily AQI at 37 on average, from 5 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 74 on Nov 10. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Ladysmith lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Ladysmith has lost about 5 hectares of forest (about 7 football pitches): 2.3% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (89%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Ladysmith stayed about the same size, at about 1,570 hectares: new forest grew on about 45 hectares, and about 15 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Ladysmith?
Ladysmith has an estimated 91,735 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 29.2% tree cover, 1 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Ladysmith need?
Ladysmith needs roughly 2,513 more trees to close a 1-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 55.3 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Ladysmith'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 uMnambithi; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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