City report · Kajiado County, Kenya
Ongata Rongai Air quality today
Air quality in Ongata Rongai currently reads AQI 103 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
AQI 103
Air quality right now
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 36.3
- tree cover
- 28.6%
- trees in this area
- 89.8K
- more trees needed
- 20.1K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Ongata Rongai, Kenya (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 24, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Ongata Rongai · AQI 103 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups)
Ongata Rongai's tree count comes to 89,850 trees across 12.57 km², 6 points below the 35% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 20,106 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Ongata Rongai today: AQI 103, Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 22:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Kihumo Village || Antenna Array, 17.2 km away · median of 2 stations
Health signal
Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
PM2.5
36.3
PM10
—
NO₂
—
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, The Demography Project
- 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 Ongata Rongai's daily AQI at 46 on average, from 41 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 65 on Nov 4.
Where Ongata Rongai stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Ongata Rongai: Below target
28.6% tree cover against a 35% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
89,850
Target trees
109,956
More trees needed
20,106
CO₂ if planted / yr
442.3 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Ongata Rongai lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Ongata Rongai has lost about 149 hectares of forest (about 210 football pitches): 6.6% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (86%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 149 haabout 210 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 6.6%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 127 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2001, when about 69 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 | 63 ha | 6 ha | 69 ha |
| 2002 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2004 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2005 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2006 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2007 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2008 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2009 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2010 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2011 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 9 ha |
| 2012 | 9 ha | under 1 ha | 9 ha |
| 2013 | under 1 ha | 3 ha | 3 ha |
| 2014 | under 1 ha | 5 ha | 6 ha |
| 2015 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2016 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2017 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2018 | 11 ha | under 1 ha | 11 ha |
| 2019 | 3 ha | 2 ha | 5 ha |
| 2020 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2021 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2022 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2023 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2024 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2025 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Ongata Rongai?
- Towns and roadscleared for good79% · 118 ha
- Loggingcan grow back8.8% · 13 ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good6.3% · 9 ha
Also: 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
- 5,830 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 5,770 ha
- Overall change
- −59 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Ongata Rongai stayed about the same size, at about 5,770 hectares: new forest grew on about 94 hectares, and about 152 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 Ongata Rongai
What is the air quality (AQI) in Ongata Rongai right now?
The latest reading for Ongata Rongai shows an AQI of 103 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups), measured Nov 11, 22:00 local time by 2 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Kihumo Village || Antenna Array, 17.2 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Ongata Rongai today?
At AQI 103 (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 Ongata Rongai been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Ongata Rongai's daily AQI at 46 on average, from 41 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 65 on Nov 4. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Ongata Rongai lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Ongata Rongai has lost about 149 hectares of forest (about 210 football pitches): 6.6% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (86%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Ongata Rongai stayed about the same size, at about 5,770 hectares: new forest grew on about 94 hectares, and about 152 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Ongata Rongai?
Ongata Rongai has an estimated 89,850 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 28.6% tree cover, 6 percentage points short of the 35% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Ongata Rongai need?
Ongata Rongai needs roughly 20,106 more trees to close a 6-point shortfall against its 35% tree-cover target — about 442.3 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Ongata Rongai's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Ongata Rongai, 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 Ongata Rongai; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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