City report · Lesotho
Mohale's Hoek Air quality today
Air quality in Mohale's Hoek currently reads AQI 18 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 18
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 2.9
- tree cover
- 22.1%
- trees in this area
- 69.3K
- more trees needed
- 24.8K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Mohale's Hoek, Lesotho (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Mar 11, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Mohale's Hoek · AQI 18 (Good)
Mohale's Hoek's tree count comes to 69,290 trees across 12.54 km² of land, 8 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 24,769 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Mohale's Hoek today: AQI 18, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 07:00 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
2.9
PM10
2.9
NO₂
3.5
O₃
79.0
SO₂
1.6
CO
122.0
- 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 Mohale's Hoek's daily AQI at 20 on average, from 10 on Nov 7 to an hourly peak of 52 on Nov 5.
Where Mohale's Hoek stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Mohale's Hoek: Below target
22.1% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.54 km² of land.
Trees in this area
69,290
Target trees
94,059
More trees needed
24,769
CO₂ if planted / yr
544.9 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Mohale's Hoek lost?
There was very little forest around Mohale's Hoek in 2000, about 28 hectares, and about 1 hectare of it has been lost 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.
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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 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 |
Forest gained and lost, 2000–2020
- Forest in 2000
- 1,020 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 1,040 ha
- Overall change
- +21 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Mohale's Hoek grew from about 1,020 hectares to 1,040 hectares, a net gain of about 21 hectares (+2.1%). New forest grew on about 22 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 Mohale's Hoek
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Botshabelo122.2 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 6%
- Air quality
- 31
- Bloemfontein167.4 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 18%
- Air quality
- 39
- Butha-Buthe171.2 km
Lesotho
- Tree cover
- 10%
- Air quality
- 24
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Frequently asked
Questions about Mohale's Hoek
What is the air quality (AQI) in Mohale's Hoek right now?
The latest reading for Mohale's Hoek shows an AQI of 18 (Good), observed Nov 11, 07:00 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 Mohale's Hoek today?
At AQI 18 (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 Mohale's Hoek been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Mohale's Hoek's daily AQI at 20 on average, from 10 on Nov 7 to an hourly peak of 52 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 Mohale's Hoek lost since 2001?
There was very little forest around Mohale's Hoek in 2000, about 28 hectares, and about 1 hectare of it has been lost 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 Mohale's Hoek grew from about 1,020 hectares to 1,040 hectares, a net gain of about 21 hectares (+2.1%). New forest grew on about 22 hectares, while 2 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Mohale's Hoek?
Mohale's Hoek has an estimated 69,290 trees across the 12.54 km² of land measured — 22.1% tree cover, 8 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Mohale's Hoek need?
Mohale's Hoek needs roughly 24,769 more trees to close a 8-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 544.9 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Mohale's Hoek'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 Mohale's Hoek; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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