City report · North West, South Africa
Orkney Air quality today
Air quality in Orkney currently reads AQI 30 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Air quality right now
AQI 30
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 3.3
- tree cover
- 32.2%
- trees in this area
- 99.7K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around Orkney, South Africa (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 25, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Orkney · AQI 30 (Good)
Orkney's tree count comes to 99,743 trees across 12.39 km² of land, already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Orkney today: AQI 30, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 09:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 11 ground-station cities within 165 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 11 station cities within 165 km, e.g. Potchefstroom and Sasolburg
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
3.3
PM10
6.8
NO₂
2.1
O₃
94.0
SO₂
3.8
CO
194.0
- 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 Orkney's daily AQI at 49 on average, from 35 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 88 on Nov 5.
Where Orkney stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Orkney: Healthy tree cover
32.2% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.39 km² of land.
Trees in this area
99,743
Target trees
99,743
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Orkney lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Orkney has lost about 38 hectares of forest (about 54 football pitches): 14% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (79%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 38 haabout 54 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 14%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 30 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2001, when about 18 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 | 16 ha | 2 ha | 18 ha |
| 2002 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2003 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2005 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2006 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2007 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2008 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2009 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2010 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2011 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2012 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 3 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2020 | under 1 ha | 3 ha | 3 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 Orkney?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good71% · 27 ha
- Loggingcan grow back10% · 4 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good4.2% · 2 ha
Also: mining and energy, 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
- 157 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 142 ha
- Overall change
- −15 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Orkney shrank from about 157 hectares to 142 hectares, a net loss of about 15 hectares (−9.6%). New forest grew on about 3 hectares, but 18 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 Orkney
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Klerksdorp14.3 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 36%
- Air quality
- 34
- Potchefstroom51.5 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 31%
- Air quality
- 36
- Kroonstad92.9 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 33%
- Air quality
- 16
- Carletonville99.7 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 23%
- Air quality
- 31
- Welkom111.1 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 28%
- Air quality
- 18
- Sasolburg115.0 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 32%
- Air quality
- 52
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Frequently asked
Questions about Orkney
What is the air quality (AQI) in Orkney right now?
The latest reading for Orkney shows an AQI of 30 (Good), observed Nov 11, 09:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 11 ground-station cities within 165 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Orkney today?
At AQI 30 (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 Orkney been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Orkney's daily AQI at 49 on average, from 35 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 88 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 Orkney lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Orkney has lost about 38 hectares of forest (about 54 football pitches): 14% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (79%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Orkney shrank from about 157 hectares to 142 hectares, a net loss of about 15 hectares (−9.6%). New forest grew on about 3 hectares, but 18 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Orkney?
Orkney has an estimated 99,743 trees across the 12.39 km² of land measured — 32.2% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Orkney need?
Orkney has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Orkney'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 Orkney; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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