City report · Gauteng, South Africa
Nigel Air quality today
Air quality in Nigel currently reads AQI 66 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
AQI 66
Air quality right now
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 11.9
- tree cover
- 14.1%
- trees in this area
- 43.7K
- more trees needed
- 49.3K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Ferryvale, Nigel, 1491, South Africa (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 22, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Nigel · AQI 66 (Moderate)
Nigel's tree count comes to 43,676 trees across 12.39 km² of land, 16 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 49,252 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Nigel today: AQI 66, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 08:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 8 ground-station cities within 65 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 8 station cities within 65 km, e.g. Germiston and Johannesburg
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
11.9
PM10
29.2
NO₂
20.4
O₃
118.0
SO₂
49.4
CO
168.0
- 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 Nigel's daily AQI at 74 on average, from 44 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 151 on Nov 11.
Where Nigel stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Nigel: Critically low
14.1% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.39 km² of land.
Trees in this area
43,676
Target trees
92,928
More trees needed
49,252
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,084 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Nigel lost?
There was very little forest around Nigel in 2000, about 48 hectares, and about 24 hectares 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 August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
The worst year was 2012, when about 5 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 | 3 ha | 3 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 | 2 ha | 2 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 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2012 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2013 | 2 ha | 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2014 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 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 | 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 |
What is causing deforestation around Nigel?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good66% · 16 ha
- Loggingcan grow back31% · 7 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown3% · under 1 ha
Also: mining and energy.
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
- 329 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 330 ha
- Overall change
- +1 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Nigel stayed about the same size, at about 330 hectares: new forest grew on about 40 hectares, and about 39 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 Nigel
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Benoni31.2 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 13%
- Air quality
- 81
- Etwatwa34.1 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 2%
- Air quality
- 53
- Tokoza35.6 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 7%
- Air quality
- 78
- Germiston39.4 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 13%
- Air quality
- 44
- Johannesburg50.2 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 4%
- Air quality
- 44
- Thembisa54.4 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 2%
- Air quality
- 58
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Frequently asked
Questions about Nigel
What is the air quality (AQI) in Nigel right now?
The latest reading for Nigel shows an AQI of 66 (Moderate), observed Nov 11, 08:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 8 ground-station cities within 65 km, 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 Nigel today?
At AQI 66 (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 Nigel been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Nigel's daily AQI at 74 on average, from 44 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 151 on Nov 11. On 1 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Nigel lost since 2001?
There was very little forest around Nigel in 2000, about 48 hectares, and about 24 hectares 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 Nigel stayed about the same size, at about 330 hectares: new forest grew on about 40 hectares, and about 39 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Nigel?
Nigel has an estimated 43,676 trees across the 12.39 km² of land measured — 14.1% tree cover, 16 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Nigel need?
Nigel needs roughly 49,252 more trees to close a 16-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 1,084 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Nigel'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 Ferryvale; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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