City report · Tigray, Ethiopia
Mek'ele Air quality today
Air quality in Mek'ele currently reads AQI 60 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
AQI 60
Air quality right now
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 13.0
- tree cover
- 17.5%
- trees in this area
- 55.0K
- more trees needed
- 39.3K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Mekele, Ethiopia (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 9, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Mek'ele · AQI 60 (Moderate)
Mek'ele's tree count comes to 54,978 trees across 12.57 km², 13 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 39,270 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Mek'ele today: AQI 60, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 01:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Model estimate · no ground station nearby
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
13.0
PM10
14.1
NO₂
6.0
O₃
19.0
SO₂
1.7
CO
329.0
- 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 Mek'ele's daily AQI at 52 on average, from 44 on Nov 7 to an hourly peak of 66 on Nov 9.
Where Mek'ele stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Mek'ele: Critically low
17.5% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
54,978
Target trees
94,248
More trees needed
39,270
CO₂ if planted / yr
863.9 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Mek'ele lost?
There was almost no forest around Mek'ele 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 February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Forest gained and lost, 2000–2020
- Forest in 2000
- 225 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 262 ha
- Overall change
- +37 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Mek'ele grew from about 225 hectares to 262 hectares, a net gain of about 37 hectares (+16%). New forest grew on about 39 hectares, while 2 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 Mek'ele
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Ādīgrat86.8 km
Ethiopia
- Tree cover
- 12%
- Air quality
- 51
- Inda Silasē145.3 km
Ethiopia
- Tree cover
- 19%
- Air quality
- 28
- Weldiya186.0 km
Ethiopia
- Tree cover
- 21%
- Air quality
- 67
- Asmara213.0 km
Eritrea
- Tree cover
- 4%
- Air quality
- 18
- Massawa234.8 km
Eritrea
- Tree cover
- 2%
- Air quality
- 58
Also compared:Mek'ele vs Addis AbabaMek'ele vs JijigaMek'ele vs Nazrēt
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Frequently asked
Questions about Mek'ele
What is the air quality (AQI) in Mek'ele right now?
The latest reading for Mek'ele shows an AQI of 60 (Moderate), observed Nov 11, 01:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, 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 Mek'ele today?
At AQI 60 (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 Mek'ele been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Mek'ele's daily AQI at 52 on average, from 44 on Nov 7 to an hourly peak of 66 on Nov 9. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Mek'ele lost since 2001?
There was almost no forest around Mek'ele 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 Mek'ele grew from about 225 hectares to 262 hectares, a net gain of about 37 hectares (+16%). New forest grew on about 39 hectares, while 2 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Mek'ele?
Mek'ele has an estimated 54,978 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 17.5% tree cover, 13 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Mek'ele need?
Mek'ele needs roughly 39,270 more trees to close a 13-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 863.9 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Mek'ele'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 Mekele; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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