City report · Bhutan
Punākha Air quality today
Air quality in Punākha currently reads AQI 59 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
AQI 59
Air quality right now
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 13.3
- tree cover
- 56.9%
- trees in this area
- 176K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around Punakha, Bhutan (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Oct 25, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Punākha · AQI 59 (Moderate)
Punākha's tree count comes to 176,433 trees across 12.41 km² of land, already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Punākha today: AQI 59, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 02:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 105 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 2 station cities within 105 km, e.g. Phuentsholing and Jalpaiguri Division
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
13.3
PM10
30.9
NO₂
7.0
O₃
44.0
SO₂
0.1
CO
543.0
- Outdoor exercise
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier
- Windows
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution
- Mask
- Not needed for most people
- Air purifier
- Worth running if you are sensitive
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Punākha's daily AQI at 56 on average, from 48 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 91 on Nov 11.
Where Punākha stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Punākha: Healthy tree cover
56.9% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.41 km² of land.
Trees in this area
176,433
Target trees
176,433
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Punākha lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Punākha has lost about 329 hectares of forest (about 460 football pitches): 1.4% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (80%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 329 haabout 460 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 1.4%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 264 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2010, when about 116 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2002 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2003 | 11 ha | under 1 ha | 12 ha |
| 2004 | 18 ha | 1 ha | 19 ha |
| 2005 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2006 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2007 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2008 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2009 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2010 | 102 ha | 14 ha | 116 ha |
| 2011 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2012 | 5 ha | 8 ha | 14 ha |
| 2013 | 7 ha | under 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2014 | 15 ha | under 1 ha | 16 ha |
| 2015 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2016 | 10 ha | under 1 ha | 11 ha |
| 2017 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2018 | 5 ha | 22 ha | 27 ha |
| 2019 | 5 ha | 3 ha | 8 ha |
| 2020 | 7 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2021 | 7 ha | 2 ha | 10 ha |
| 2022 | 8 ha | 1 ha | 9 ha |
| 2023 | 16 ha | 3 ha | 19 ha |
| 2024 | 11 ha | under 1 ha | 12 ha |
| 2025 | 4 ha | 3 ha | 6 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Punākha?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good61% · 202 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good19% · 62 ha
- Wildfirescan grow back11% · 37 ha
Also: storms, floods and other natural causes, logging, 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
- 25,800 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 25,800 ha
- Overall change
- +37 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Punākha stayed about the same size, at about 25,800 hectares: new forest grew on about 229 hectares, and about 193 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 Punākha
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Phuntsholing95.4 km
Bhutan
- Tree cover
- 61%
- Air quality
- 78
- Jaigaon96.4 km
India
- Tree cover
- 34%
- Air quality
- 78
- Gangtok128.3 km
India
- Tree cover
- 83%
- Air quality
- 39
- Jalpāiguri164.7 km
India
- Tree cover
- 40%
- Air quality
- 105
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Frequently asked
Questions about Punākha
What is the air quality (AQI) in Punākha right now?
The latest reading for Punākha shows an AQI of 59 (Moderate), observed Nov 11, 02:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 105 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Punākha today?
At AQI 59 (Moderate): fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier. Windows: fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution. Masks: not needed for most people. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Punākha been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Punākha's daily AQI at 56 on average, from 48 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 91 on Nov 11. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Punākha lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Punākha has lost about 329 hectares of forest (about 460 football pitches): 1.4% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (80%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Punākha stayed about the same size, at about 25,800 hectares: new forest grew on about 229 hectares, and about 193 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Punākha?
Punākha has an estimated 176,433 trees across the 12.41 km² of land measured — 56.9% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Punākha need?
Punākha has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Punākha'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 Punakha; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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