City report · Jiangsu, China
Nanjing Air quality today
Air quality in Nanjing currently reads AQI 112 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Air quality right now
AQI 112
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 40.0
- tree cover
- 28.4%
- trees in this area
- 82.4K
- more trees needed
- 19.2K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Gulou, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 12, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Nanjing · AQI 112 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups)
Nanjing's tree count comes to 82,440 trees across 11.61 km² of land, 7 points below the 35% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 19,159 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Nanjing today: AQI 112, Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 22:00 local time via World Air Quality Index Project ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Nanjing (南京), 1.8 km away · median of 5 stations
Health signal
Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
PM2.5
40.0
PM10
71.2
NO₂
—
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Jiangsu Environmental Protection public network (江苏省城市空气PM2.5等试运行监测数据平台), Nanjing Air Quality Distribution System (南京空气质量发布系统)
- Outdoor exercise
- Children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise
- Windows
- Close them to keep the outside air out
- Mask
- Sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors
- Air purifier
- Run one, especially in bedrooms
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Nanjing's daily AQI at 127 on average, from 71 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 247 on Nov 10.
Where Nanjing stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Nanjing: Below target
28.4% tree cover against a 35% healthy-neighborhood target, across 11.61 km² of land.
Trees in this area
82,440
Target trees
101,599
More trees needed
19,159
CO₂ if planted / yr
421.5 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Nanjing lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Nanjing has lost about 19 hectares of forest (about 27 football pitches): 1% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (87%) 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
- 19 haabout 27 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 1%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 17 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2019, when about 4 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 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2005 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2006 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2007 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2008 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2009 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2010 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2011 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2012 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 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 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 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 Nanjing?
- Towns and roadscleared for good86% · 17 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown15% · 3 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
- 5,450 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 7,150 ha
- Overall change
- +1,700 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Nanjing grew from about 5,450 hectares to 7,150 hectares, a net gain of about 1,700 hectares (+31%). New forest grew on about 1,740 hectares, while 42 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 Nanjing
What is the air quality (AQI) in Nanjing right now?
The latest reading for Nanjing shows an AQI of 112 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups), measured Nov 11, 22:00 local time by 5 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Nanjing (南京), 1.8 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Nanjing today?
At AQI 112 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups): children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise. Windows: close them to keep the outside air out. Masks: sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Nanjing been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Nanjing's daily AQI at 127 on average, from 71 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 247 on Nov 10. On 5 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Nanjing lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Nanjing has lost about 19 hectares of forest (about 27 football pitches): 1% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (87%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Nanjing grew from about 5,450 hectares to 7,150 hectares, a net gain of about 1,700 hectares (+31%). New forest grew on about 1,740 hectares, while 42 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Nanjing?
Nanjing has an estimated 82,440 trees across the 11.61 km² of land measured — 28.4% tree cover, 7 percentage points short of the 35% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Nanjing need?
Nanjing needs roughly 19,159 more trees to close a 7-point shortfall against its 35% tree-cover target — about 421.5 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Nanjing's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Gulou, 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 Gulou; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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