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Air quality now: AQI28Good, Playa del Carmen

City report · Quintana Roo, Mexico

Playa del Carmen Air quality today

Air quality in Playa del Carmen currently reads AQI 28 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

AQI 28

Air quality right now

Good

Main pollutant: PM2.5
PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
5.4
tree cover
24.7%
trees in this area
60.5K
more trees needed
13.0K

Measured across a 2 km radius around Centro, Playa del Carmen, Q.R., Mexico (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 2, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.

Playa del Carmen · AQI 28 (Good)

Dark green marks tree cover detected inside the study radius.Sentinel-2 L2A (ESA Copernicus) via Earth Search, captured Sep 2, 2026

Playa del Carmen's tree count comes to 60,526 trees across 9.8 km² of land, 5 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 12,987 more trees would close the gap.

Air quality detail

Air quality in Playa del Carmen today: AQI 28, Good

Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 15:00 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

5.4

PM10

8.0

NO₂

0.7

O₃

71.0

SO₂

0.9

CO

115.0

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 Playa del Carmen's daily AQI at 29 on average, from 18 on Nov 6 to an hourly peak of 43 on Nov 7.

Last 7 daysavg 29 · peak 43
Nov 4: AQI 35 (peak 41)Nov 5: AQI 31 (peak 40)Nov 6: AQI 18 (peak 22)Nov 7: AQI 31 (peak 43)Nov 8: AQI 28 (peak 33)Nov 9: AQI 30 (peak 34)Nov 10: AQI 27 (peak 31)
Nov 4Nov 10

Where Playa del Carmen stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest

Tree cover detail

Tree cover in Playa del Carmen: Below target

24.7% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 9.8 km² of land.

5 points below target

Trees in this area

60,526

Target trees

73,513

More trees needed

12,987

CO₂ if planted / yr

285.7 t

Deforestation · 2001–2025

How much forest has Playa del Carmen lost?

Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Playa del Carmen has lost about 6,990 hectares of forest (about 9,800 football pitches): 47% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (72%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.

Satellite image of the area around Playa del Carmen, March 2017

2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northwest of the city center.

Forest lost since 2001
6,990 haabout 9,800 football pitches
Share of its forest
47%of what there was in 2000
Cleared for good
5,030 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns

Forest loss is speeding up: about 466 hectares a year in 2021–2025, up from 236 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2024, when about 1,270 hectares of forest were lost, mostly to wildfires.

Forest lost each year around Playa del Carmen, 2001–2025

Hectares of forest lost each year

Forest lost each year around Playa del Carmen, 2001–2025. Use the left and right arrow keys to read each year.1.27K

Show the figures as a table
Forest lost each year around Playa del Carmen, 2001–2025
YearCleared for goodCan grow backTotal
200146 ha4 ha50 ha
2002273 ha11 ha284 ha
2003216 ha32 ha248 ha
2004319 ha22 ha341 ha
2005336 ha24 ha360 ha
2006109 ha12 ha121 ha
2007385 ha12 ha397 ha
2008378 ha29 ha407 ha
2009310 ha25 ha335 ha
2010119 ha7 ha126 ha
2011170 ha13 ha183 ha
2012199 ha6 ha205 ha
201391 ha13 ha104 ha
2014115 ha14 ha129 ha
2015162 ha28 ha190 ha
2016207 ha22 ha229 ha
2017189 ha29 ha218 ha
2018241 ha49 ha290 ha
2019148 ha29 ha177 ha
2020132 ha134 ha266 ha
2021148 ha240 ha388 ha
2022152 ha73 ha225 ha
2023158 ha43 ha201 ha
2024267 ha1,010 ha1,270 ha
2025158 ha84 ha242 ha

What is causing deforestation around Playa del Carmen?

  • Towns and roadscleared for good63% · 4,420 ha
  • Wildfirescan grow back27% · 1,890 ha
  • Mining and energycleared for good6.8% · 477 ha

Also: farms, pasture and plantations, 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
14,000 ha
Forest in 2020
11,000 ha
Overall change
−3,030 haless forest than in 2000

Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Playa del Carmen shrank from about 14,000 hectares to 11,000 hectares, a net loss of about 3,030 hectares (−22%). New forest grew on about 158 hectares, but 3,180 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 Playa del Carmen

Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.

  • Cancún

    Mexico

    65.5 km
    Tree cover
    12%
    Air quality
    46
  • Mérida

    Mexico

    267.1 km
    Tree cover
    25%
    Air quality
    8
  • Chetumal

    Mexico

    267.2 km
    Tree cover
    19%
    Air quality
    17
  • San Pedro

    Belize

    315.5 km
    Tree cover
    33%
    Air quality
    17
  • Orange Walk

    Belize

    323.1 km
    Tree cover
    44%
    Air quality
    16
  • Belize City

    Belize

    367.1 km
    Tree cover
    25%
    Air quality
    54

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Playa del Carmen air quality (AQI) and tree cover — measured by Airleaf
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Frequently asked

Questions about Playa del Carmen

What is the air quality (AQI) in Playa del Carmen right now?

The latest reading for Playa del Carmen shows an AQI of 28 (Good), observed Nov 10, 15:00 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 Playa del Carmen today?

At AQI 28 (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 Playa del Carmen been like this week?

Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Playa del Carmen's daily AQI at 29 on average, from 18 on Nov 6 to an hourly peak of 43 on Nov 7. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.

How much forest has the area around Playa del Carmen lost since 2001?

Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Playa del Carmen has lost about 6,990 hectares of forest (about 9,800 football pitches): 47% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (72%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Forest loss is speeding up: about 466 hectares a year in 2021–2025, up from 236 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Playa del Carmen shrank from about 14,000 hectares to 11,000 hectares, a net loss of about 3,030 hectares (−22%). New forest grew on about 158 hectares, but 3,180 hectares were lost.

What is the tree count in Playa del Carmen?

Playa del Carmen has an estimated 60,526 trees across the 9.8 km² of land measured — 24.7% tree cover, 5 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.

How many more trees does Playa del Carmen need?

Playa del Carmen needs roughly 12,987 more trees to close a 5-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 285.7 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.

How are Playa del Carmen'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 Centro; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.

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