City report · Huila Department, Colombia
Pitalito Air quality today
Air quality in Pitalito currently reads AQI 42 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 42
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 8.2
- tree cover
- 18.6%
- trees in this area
- 58.4K
- more trees needed
- 35.8K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Pitalito, Huila, Colombia (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Jun 11, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Pitalito · AQI 42 (Good)
Pitalito's tree count comes to 58,434 trees across 12.57 km², 11 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 35,814 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Pitalito today: AQI 42, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 22:00 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
8.2
PM10
8.6
NO₂
14.9
O₃
23.0
SO₂
1.8
CO
165.0
- 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 Pitalito's daily AQI at 35 on average, from 21 on Nov 6 to an hourly peak of 74 on Nov 4.
Where Pitalito stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Pitalito: Below target
18.6% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
58,434
Target trees
94,248
More trees needed
35,814
CO₂ if planted / yr
787.9 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Pitalito lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Pitalito has lost about 3,230 hectares of forest (about 4,500 football pitches): 15% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (96%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from September 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northwest of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 3,230 haabout 4,500 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 15%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 3,100 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Forest loss is slowing down: about 154 hectares a year in 2021–2025, down from 220 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2017, when about 354 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 | 62 ha | 3 ha | 65 ha |
| 2002 | 74 ha | 1 ha | 76 ha |
| 2003 | 43 ha | under 1 ha | 44 ha |
| 2004 | 37 ha | 1 ha | 38 ha |
| 2005 | 72 ha | 3 ha | 75 ha |
| 2006 | 93 ha | 3 ha | 96 ha |
| 2007 | 122 ha | 4 ha | 126 ha |
| 2008 | 120 ha | 7 ha | 127 ha |
| 2009 | 115 ha | 4 ha | 119 ha |
| 2010 | 159 ha | 4 ha | 163 ha |
| 2011 | 178 ha | 7 ha | 185 ha |
| 2012 | 138 ha | 6 ha | 144 ha |
| 2013 | 22 ha | 2 ha | 23 ha |
| 2014 | 50 ha | 2 ha | 52 ha |
| 2015 | 29 ha | 3 ha | 32 ha |
| 2016 | 108 ha | 6 ha | 114 ha |
| 2017 | 340 ha | 14 ha | 354 ha |
| 2018 | 140 ha | 3 ha | 143 ha |
| 2019 | 305 ha | 13 ha | 318 ha |
| 2020 | 155 ha | 14 ha | 169 ha |
| 2021 | 61 ha | 5 ha | 66 ha |
| 2022 | 143 ha | 6 ha | 149 ha |
| 2023 | 153 ha | 5 ha | 158 ha |
| 2024 | 271 ha | 17 ha | 288 ha |
| 2025 | 108 ha | 3 ha | 111 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Pitalito?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good94% · 3,030 ha
- Shifting farmingcan grow back4.1% · 134 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good2% · 65 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
- 21,100 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 21,000 ha
- Overall change
- −112 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Pitalito stayed about the same size, at about 21,000 hectares: new forest grew on about 495 hectares, and about 607 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 Pitalito
What is the air quality (AQI) in Pitalito right now?
The latest reading for Pitalito shows an AQI of 42 (Good), observed Nov 10, 22:00 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 Pitalito today?
At AQI 42 (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 Pitalito been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Pitalito's daily AQI at 35 on average, from 21 on Nov 6 to an hourly peak of 74 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 Pitalito lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Pitalito has lost about 3,230 hectares of forest (about 4,500 football pitches): 15% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (96%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Forest loss is slowing down: about 154 hectares a year in 2021–2025, down from 220 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Pitalito stayed about the same size, at about 21,000 hectares: new forest grew on about 495 hectares, and about 607 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Pitalito?
Pitalito has an estimated 58,434 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 18.6% tree cover, 11 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Pitalito need?
Pitalito needs roughly 35,814 more trees to close a 11-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 787.9 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Pitalito'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 Pitalito; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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