City report · Colombia
Popayán Air quality today
Air quality in Popayán currently reads AQI 32 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 32
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 5.6
- tree cover
- 19.9%
- trees in this area
- 62.5K
- more trees needed
- 31.7K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Las Americas, Popayán, Cauca, Colombia (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 12, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Popayán · AQI 32 (Good)
Popayán's tree count comes to 62,518 trees across 12.57 km², 10 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 31,730 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Popayán today: AQI 32, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 23:00 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
5.6
PM10
5.9
NO₂
11.1
O₃
16.0
SO₂
1.0
CO
658.0
- 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 Popayán's daily AQI at 24 on average, from 14 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 56 on Nov 4.
Where Popayán stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Popayán: Below target
19.9% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
62,518
Target trees
94,248
More trees needed
31,730
CO₂ if planted / yr
698.1 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Popayán lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Popayán has lost about 4,020 hectares of forest (about 5,600 football pitches): 19% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it was lost to logging, so much of it can grow back. About 1,450 hectares (36%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns.
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km north of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 4,020 haabout 5,600 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 19%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 1,450 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Forest loss is slowing down: about 80 hectares a year in 2021–2025, down from 144 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2011, when about 423 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 | 56 ha | 98 ha | 154 ha |
| 2002 | 65 ha | 152 ha | 217 ha |
| 2003 | 17 ha | 37 ha | 54 ha |
| 2004 | 76 ha | 178 ha | 254 ha |
| 2005 | 37 ha | 88 ha | 125 ha |
| 2006 | 92 ha | 64 ha | 156 ha |
| 2007 | 14 ha | 41 ha | 55 ha |
| 2008 | 71 ha | 119 ha | 190 ha |
| 2009 | 85 ha | 273 ha | 358 ha |
| 2010 | 21 ha | 59 ha | 79 ha |
| 2011 | 145 ha | 278 ha | 423 ha |
| 2012 | 219 ha | 182 ha | 401 ha |
| 2013 | 31 ha | 139 ha | 170 ha |
| 2014 | 49 ha | 127 ha | 176 ha |
| 2015 | 23 ha | 70 ha | 93 ha |
| 2016 | 39 ha | 82 ha | 121 ha |
| 2017 | 67 ha | 165 ha | 232 ha |
| 2018 | 71 ha | 72 ha | 142 ha |
| 2019 | 59 ha | 69 ha | 128 ha |
| 2020 | 30 ha | 65 ha | 95 ha |
| 2021 | 35 ha | 20 ha | 55 ha |
| 2022 | 23 ha | 26 ha | 49 ha |
| 2023 | 54 ha | 69 ha | 123 ha |
| 2024 | 46 ha | 54 ha | 100 ha |
| 2025 | 30 ha | 42 ha | 72 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Popayán?
- Loggingcan grow back64% · 2,570 ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good30% · 1,220 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good5.8% · 234 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
- 21,800 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 20,900 ha
- Overall change
- −851 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Popayán shrank from about 21,800 hectares to 20,900 hectares, a net loss of about 851 hectares (−3.9%). New forest grew on about 338 hectares, but 1,190 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 Popayán
What is the air quality (AQI) in Popayán right now?
The latest reading for Popayán shows an AQI of 32 (Good), observed Nov 10, 23:00 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 Popayán today?
At AQI 32 (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 Popayán been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Popayán's daily AQI at 24 on average, from 14 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 56 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 Popayán lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Popayán has lost about 4,020 hectares of forest (about 5,600 football pitches): 19% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it was lost to logging, so much of it can grow back. About 1,450 hectares (36%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns. Forest loss is slowing down: about 80 hectares a year in 2021–2025, down from 144 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Popayán shrank from about 21,800 hectares to 20,900 hectares, a net loss of about 851 hectares (−3.9%). New forest grew on about 338 hectares, but 1,190 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Popayán?
Popayán has an estimated 62,518 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 19.9% tree cover, 10 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Popayán need?
Popayán needs roughly 31,730 more trees to close a 10-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 698.1 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Popayán'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 Las Americas; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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