City report · Sint Maarten
Philipsburg Air quality today
Air quality in Philipsburg currently reads AQI 12 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 12
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 2.4
- tree cover
- 29.4%
- trees in this area
- 64.2K
- more trees needed
- 1.3K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Philipsburg, Sint Maarten (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 12, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Philipsburg · AQI 12 (Good)
Philipsburg's tree count comes to 64,192 trees across 8.74 km² of land, 1 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 1,310 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Philipsburg today: AQI 12, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 08:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Model estimate · no ground station nearby
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
2.4
PM10
3.3
NO₂
1.3
O₃
68.0
SO₂
4.7
CO
144.0
- 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 Philipsburg's daily AQI at 32 on average, from 9 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 69 on Nov 4.
Where Philipsburg stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Philipsburg: Below target
29.4% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 8.74 km² of land.
Trees in this area
64,192
Target trees
65,502
More trees needed
1,310
CO₂ if planted / yr
28.8 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Philipsburg lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Philipsburg has lost about 81 hectares of forest (about 110 football pitches): 3% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (87%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2022: satellite photo from December 2021 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 81 haabout 110 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 3%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 70 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2011, when about 11 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 | 2 ha | 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2002 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2003 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2004 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2005 | 7 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2006 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2007 | 7 ha | under 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2008 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2009 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2010 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2011 | 10 ha | 1 ha | 11 ha |
| 2012 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2013 | 3 ha | 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2014 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2015 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2016 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2017 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2018 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2019 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2020 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2021 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2022 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2023 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2024 | 2 ha | 3 ha | 5 ha |
| 2025 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Philipsburg?
- Towns and roadscleared for good75% · 61 ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good12% · 10 ha
- Storms, floods and other natural causescan grow back5.2% · 4 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
- 2,720 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 2,650 ha
- Overall change
- −71 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Philipsburg shrank from about 2,720 hectares to 2,650 hectares, a net loss of about 71 hectares (−2.6%). New forest grew on about 39 hectares, but 109 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 Philipsburg
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- The Valley21.3 km
Anguilla
- Tree cover
- 55%
- Air quality
- 8
- Gustavia25.3 km
Saint Barthelemy
- Tree cover
- 60%
- Air quality
- 23
- Basseterre88.1 km
Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Tree cover
- 19%
- Air quality
- 41
- Saint John’s162.4 km
Antigua and Barbuda
- Tree cover
- 29%
- Air quality
- 34
- Plymouth171.4 km
Montserrat
- Tree cover
- 59%
- Air quality
- 28
- Road Town172.2 km
British Virgin Islands
- Tree cover
- 75%
- Air quality
- 41
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Frequently asked
Questions about Philipsburg
What is the air quality (AQI) in Philipsburg right now?
The latest reading for Philipsburg shows an AQI of 12 (Good), observed Nov 10, 08:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Philipsburg today?
At AQI 12 (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 Philipsburg been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Philipsburg's daily AQI at 32 on average, from 9 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 69 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 Philipsburg lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Philipsburg has lost about 81 hectares of forest (about 110 football pitches): 3% 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 Philipsburg shrank from about 2,720 hectares to 2,650 hectares, a net loss of about 71 hectares (−2.6%). New forest grew on about 39 hectares, but 109 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Philipsburg?
Philipsburg has an estimated 64,192 trees across the 8.74 km² of land measured — 29.4% tree cover, 1 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Philipsburg need?
Philipsburg needs roughly 1,310 more trees to close a 1-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 28.8 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Philipsburg'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 Philipsburg; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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