City report · Jamaica
Montego Bay Air quality today
Air quality in Montego Bay currently reads AQI 42 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 42
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 7.8
- tree cover
- 44.0%
- trees in this area
- 114K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around Montego Bay, Jamaica (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 13, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Montego Bay · AQI 42 (Good)
Montego Bay's tree count comes to 114,455 trees across 10.41 km² of land, already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Montego Bay today: AQI 42, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 18:00 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
7.8
PM10
9.2
NO₂
6.5
O₃
51.0
SO₂
1.8
CO
233.0
- 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 Montego Bay's daily AQI at 34 on average, from 27 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 56 on Nov 5.
Where Montego Bay stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Montego Bay: Healthy tree cover
44.0% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 10.41 km² of land.
Trees in this area
114,455
Target trees
114,455
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Montego Bay lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Montego Bay has lost about 1,890 hectares of forest (about 2,600 football pitches): 15% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (81%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 5 km southeast of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 1,890 haabout 2,600 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 15%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 1,530 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Forest loss is speeding up: about 179 hectares a year in 2021–2025, up from 54 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2025, when about 624 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 | 31 ha | 5 ha | 36 ha |
| 2002 | 78 ha | 8 ha | 86 ha |
| 2003 | 25 ha | 2 ha | 27 ha |
| 2004 | 48 ha | 6 ha | 54 ha |
| 2005 | 33 ha | 10 ha | 42 ha |
| 2006 | 55 ha | 4 ha | 59 ha |
| 2007 | 61 ha | 3 ha | 64 ha |
| 2008 | 17 ha | 3 ha | 19 ha |
| 2009 | 106 ha | 15 ha | 121 ha |
| 2010 | 29 ha | 4 ha | 33 ha |
| 2011 | 67 ha | 9 ha | 75 ha |
| 2012 | 39 ha | 5 ha | 44 ha |
| 2013 | 21 ha | 3 ha | 24 ha |
| 2014 | 18 ha | 1 ha | 19 ha |
| 2015 | 16 ha | under 1 ha | 17 ha |
| 2016 | 28 ha | 2 ha | 29 ha |
| 2017 | 66 ha | 5 ha | 70 ha |
| 2018 | 87 ha | 10 ha | 96 ha |
| 2019 | 39 ha | 5 ha | 44 ha |
| 2020 | 30 ha | 2 ha | 33 ha |
| 2021 | 48 ha | 3 ha | 51 ha |
| 2022 | 27 ha | under 1 ha | 27 ha |
| 2023 | 87 ha | 5 ha | 92 ha |
| 2024 | 97 ha | 4 ha | 101 ha |
| 2025 | 380 ha | 244 ha | 624 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Montego Bay?
- Towns and roadscleared for good56% · 1,060 ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good21% · 395 ha
- Shifting farmingcan grow back15% · 288 ha
Also: mining and energy, logging, 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
- 14,600 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 14,400 ha
- Overall change
- −175 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Montego Bay stayed about the same size, at about 14,400 hectares: new forest grew on about 162 hectares, and about 337 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 Montego Bay
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Ocho Rios86.3 km
Jamaica
- Tree cover
- 60%
- Air quality
- 41
- Spanish Town114.7 km
Jamaica
- Tree cover
- 37%
- Air quality
- 26
- Manzanillo224.3 km
Cuba
- Tree cover
- 52%
- Air quality
- 14
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Frequently asked
Questions about Montego Bay
What is the air quality (AQI) in Montego Bay right now?
The latest reading for Montego Bay shows an AQI of 42 (Good), observed Nov 10, 18:00 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 Montego Bay today?
At AQI 42 (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 Montego Bay been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Montego Bay's daily AQI at 34 on average, from 27 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 56 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 Montego Bay lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Montego Bay has lost about 1,890 hectares of forest (about 2,600 football pitches): 15% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (81%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Forest loss is speeding up: about 179 hectares a year in 2021–2025, up from 54 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Montego Bay stayed about the same size, at about 14,400 hectares: new forest grew on about 162 hectares, and about 337 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Montego Bay?
Montego Bay has an estimated 114,455 trees across the 10.41 km² of land measured — 44.0% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Montego Bay need?
Montego Bay has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Montego Bay'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 Montego Bay; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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