City report · Shandong, China
Qingdao Air quality today
Air quality in Qingdao currently reads AQI 72 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Air quality right now
AQI 72
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 20.2
- tree cover
- 16.7%
- trees in this area
- 40.3K
- more trees needed
- 32.1K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Shinan District, Qingdao, Shandong, China (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 22, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Qingdao · AQI 72 (Moderate)
Qingdao's tree count comes to 40,345 trees across 9.67 km² of land, 13 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 32,131 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Qingdao today: AQI 72, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 22:00 local time via World Air Quality Index Project ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Qingdao (青岛), 300 m away · median of 5 stations
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
20.2
PM10
38.9
NO₂
—
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Environmental Protection Department of Shandong Province (山东省环境保护厅)
- 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 Qingdao's daily AQI at 80 on average, from 51 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 151 on Nov 5.
Where Qingdao stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Qingdao: Critically low
16.7% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 9.67 km² of land.
Trees in this area
40,345
Target trees
72,476
More trees needed
32,131
CO₂ if planted / yr
706.9 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Qingdao lost?
There was very little forest around Qingdao in 2000, about 14 hectares, and about 1 hectare of it has been lost since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here.
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2005 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2006 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2007 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2008 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2009 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2010 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2011 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2012 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2013 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2014 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2015 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2016 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2017 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2018 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2019 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2020 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2021 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2022 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2023 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2024 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2025 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
Forest gained and lost, 2000–2020
- Forest in 2000
- 437 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 664 ha
- Overall change
- +227 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Qingdao grew from about 437 hectares to 664 hectares, a net gain of about 227 hectares (+52%). New forest grew on about 228 hectares, while under 1 hectare was 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 Qingdao
What is the air quality (AQI) in Qingdao right now?
The latest reading for Qingdao shows an AQI of 72 (Moderate), measured Nov 11, 22:00 local time by 5 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Qingdao (青岛), 300 m away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Qingdao today?
At AQI 72 (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 Qingdao been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Qingdao's daily AQI at 80 on average, from 51 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 151 on Nov 5. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Qingdao lost since 2001?
There was very little forest around Qingdao in 2000, about 14 hectares, and about 1 hectare of it has been lost since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Qingdao grew from about 437 hectares to 664 hectares, a net gain of about 227 hectares (+52%). New forest grew on about 228 hectares, while under 1 hectare was lost.
What is the tree count in Qingdao?
Qingdao has an estimated 40,345 trees across the 9.67 km² of land measured — 16.7% tree cover, 13 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Qingdao need?
Qingdao needs roughly 32,131 more trees to close a 13-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 706.9 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Qingdao's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Shinan District, via OpenAQ; the 7-day trend is the Open-Meteo / CAMS model's estimate. 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 Shinan District; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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