City report · Occitanie, France
Montpellier Air quality today
Air quality in Montpellier currently reads AQI 57 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
AQI 57
Air quality right now
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 12.4
- tree cover
- 28.9%
- trees in this area
- 90.8K
- more trees needed
- 3.5K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Ctre Historique, 34000 Montpellier, France (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 25, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Montpellier · AQI 57 (Moderate)
Montpellier's tree count comes to 90,792 trees across 12.57 km², 1 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 3,456 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Montpellier today: AQI 57, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 17:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Montpellier Prés d'Arènes, 2.3 km away · median of 3 stations
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
12.4
PM10
18.4
NO₂
7.2
O₃
62.5
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: OpenAQ · EEA
- 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 Montpellier's daily AQI at 40 on average, from 27 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 69 on Nov 7.
Where Montpellier stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Montpellier: Below target
28.9% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
90,792
Target trees
94,248
More trees needed
3,456
CO₂ if planted / yr
76.0 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Montpellier lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Montpellier has lost about 284 hectares of forest (about 400 football pitches): 9.9% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (73%) 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 northwest of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 284 haabout 400 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 9.9%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 207 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2008, when about 26 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 | 7 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2002 | 7 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2003 | 9 ha | 1 ha | 10 ha |
| 2004 | 17 ha | under 1 ha | 18 ha |
| 2005 | 21 ha | under 1 ha | 22 ha |
| 2006 | 20 ha | under 1 ha | 21 ha |
| 2007 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2008 | 20 ha | 6 ha | 26 ha |
| 2009 | 10 ha | 3 ha | 13 ha |
| 2010 | 17 ha | 1 ha | 19 ha |
| 2011 | 11 ha | under 1 ha | 12 ha |
| 2012 | 10 ha | 1 ha | 11 ha |
| 2013 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2014 | 9 ha | 4 ha | 12 ha |
| 2015 | 4 ha | 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2016 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2017 | 3 ha | 8 ha | 11 ha |
| 2018 | 4 ha | 20 ha | 23 ha |
| 2019 | under 1 ha | 5 ha | 5 ha |
| 2020 | 5 ha | 10 ha | 14 ha |
| 2021 | 5 ha | 2 ha | 6 ha |
| 2022 | 2 ha | 2 ha | 3 ha |
| 2023 | 6 ha | 3 ha | 9 ha |
| 2024 | 2 ha | 2 ha | 4 ha |
| 2025 | 7 ha | 3 ha | 10 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Montpellier?
- Towns and roadscleared for good66% · 189 ha
- Loggingcan grow back20% · 57 ha
- Wildfirescan grow back5.1% · 15 ha
Also: mining and energy, farms, pasture and plantations, 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
- 5,130 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 5,230 ha
- Overall change
- +101 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Montpellier stayed about the same size, at about 5,230 hectares: new forest grew on about 243 hectares, and about 142 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 Montpellier
What is the air quality (AQI) in Montpellier right now?
The latest reading for Montpellier shows an AQI of 57 (Moderate), measured Nov 11, 17:00 local time by 3 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Montpellier Prés d'Arènes, 2.3 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Montpellier today?
At AQI 57 (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 Montpellier been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Montpellier's daily AQI at 40 on average, from 27 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 69 on Nov 7. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Montpellier lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Montpellier has lost about 284 hectares of forest (about 400 football pitches): 9.9% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (73%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Montpellier stayed about the same size, at about 5,230 hectares: new forest grew on about 243 hectares, and about 142 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Montpellier?
Montpellier has an estimated 90,792 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 28.9% tree cover, 1 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Montpellier need?
Montpellier needs roughly 3,456 more trees to close a 1-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 76.0 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Montpellier's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Ctre Historique, via OpenAQ; the 7-day trend is the Open-Meteo / CAMS model's estimate. 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 Ctre Historique; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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