City report · Pernambuco, Brazil
Recife Air quality today
Air quality in Recife currently reads AQI 43 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 43
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 8.4
- tree cover
- 12.9%
- trees in this area
- 32.3K
- more trees needed
- 42.8K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Santo Amaro, Recife - Pernambuco, Brazil (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Nov 2, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Recife · AQI 43 (Good)
Recife's tree count comes to 32,300 trees across 10.02 km² of land, 17 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 42,816 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Recife today: AQI 43, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 20:00 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
8.4
PM10
13.9
NO₂
2.6
O₃
36.0
SO₂
1.0
CO
135.0
- 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 Recife's daily AQI at 48 on average, from 41 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 56 on Nov 5.
Where Recife stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Recife: Critically low
12.9% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 10.02 km² of land.
Trees in this area
32,300
Target trees
75,116
More trees needed
42,816
CO₂ if planted / yr
942.0 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Recife lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Recife has lost about 218 hectares of forest (about 310 football pitches): 6.8% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (95%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 218 haabout 310 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 6.8%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 207 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2002, when about 54 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 | 3 ha | 2 ha | 4 ha |
| 2002 | 51 ha | 3 ha | 54 ha |
| 2003 | 11 ha | under 1 ha | 11 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2005 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2006 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2007 | 20 ha | 1 ha | 21 ha |
| 2008 | 19 ha | 1 ha | 21 ha |
| 2009 | 6 ha | 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2010 | 15 ha | 1 ha | 17 ha |
| 2011 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2012 | 16 ha | 1 ha | 17 ha |
| 2013 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2014 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2015 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2016 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2017 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2018 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2019 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2020 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2021 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2022 | 22 ha | under 1 ha | 23 ha |
| 2023 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2024 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2025 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Recife?
- Towns and roadscleared for good87% · 189 ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good8.3% · 18 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown5% · 11 ha
Also: logging, storms, floods and other natural 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
- 1,770 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 1,810 ha
- Overall change
- +38 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Recife grew from about 1,770 hectares to 1,810 hectares, a net gain of about 38 hectares (+2.1%). New forest grew on about 71 hectares, while 34 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 Recife
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Paulista12.6 km
Brazil
- Tree cover
- 39%
- Air quality
- 43
- Jaboatão dos Guararapes16.1 km
Brazil
- Tree cover
- 52%
- Air quality
- 48
- Igarassu24.6 km
Brazil
- Tree cover
- 43%
- Air quality
- 43
- Cabo de Santo Agostinho30.7 km
Brazil
- Tree cover
- 23%
- Air quality
- 52
- Ipojuca43.3 km
Brazil
- Tree cover
- 20%
- Air quality
- 71
- Vitória de Santo Antão45.7 km
Brazil
- Tree cover
- 14%
- Air quality
- 59
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Frequently asked
Questions about Recife
What is the air quality (AQI) in Recife right now?
The latest reading for Recife shows an AQI of 43 (Good), observed Nov 10, 20:00 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 Recife today?
At AQI 43 (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 Recife been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Recife's daily AQI at 48 on average, from 41 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 56 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 Recife lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Recife has lost about 218 hectares of forest (about 310 football pitches): 6.8% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (95%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Recife grew from about 1,770 hectares to 1,810 hectares, a net gain of about 38 hectares (+2.1%). New forest grew on about 71 hectares, while 34 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Recife?
Recife has an estimated 32,300 trees across the 10.02 km² of land measured — 12.9% tree cover, 17 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Recife need?
Recife needs roughly 42,816 more trees to close a 17-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 942.0 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Recife'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 Santo Amaro; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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