Canada · Alberta · 4 cities
Air quality in Alberta today The AQI right now, city by city
Right now, Lethbridge has the cleanest air of the 4 cities we track in Alberta (AQI 29, Good), and Calgary the worst (AQI 48, Good). Edmonton has the most tree cover, at 35.5% — #27 of 59 cities measured in Canada.
Every city is measured the same way, over the same 2 km around its center: the air quality right now, from ground stations where there are any, and its tree cover.
Average right now
AQI 34
Good
- cities tracked
- 4
- average tree cover
- 28.0%
- Canada: 33.1%
- worst air now: Calgary
- 48
- cleanest air now: Lethbridge
- 29
Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous, and it reads differently from Canada's AQHI. Measured by Airleaf, refreshed hourly.
Alberta · average AQI 34
Air quality today across Alberta, city by city
| Calgary | 48Good | 19.8% | 31.1K | #55 of 59 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edmonton | 34Good | 35.5% | — | #27 of 59 |
| Lethbridge | 29Good | 25.9% | 12.8K | #44 of 59 |
| Red Deer | 25Good | 30.8% | — | #35 of 59 |
Air quality is the US AQI from ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ where available, otherwise the Open-Meteo / CAMS model, refreshed hourly. Tree cover is measured within 2 km of each city center from Sentinel-2 imagery; the rank compares every city measured in Canada.
Is this the same as Canada's AQHI?
No. Airleaf shows the US EPA Air Quality Index (AQI), the scale used by IQAir and most air-quality apps. Canada's Air Quality Health Index (AQHI), from Environment and Climate Change Canada, runs from 1 to 10 and above: 1–3 low risk, 4–6 moderate, 7–10 high and over 10 very high. It combines ozone, nitrogen dioxide and fine particles into one health-risk number, so it isn't a converted AQI, and the two can move differently, especially in wildfire smoke.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Alberta lost?
Since 2001, Alberta has lost about 8.93 million hectares of forest (about 89,000 km²): 24% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it was lost to wildfires, so much of it can grow back. About 362,000 hectares (4.1%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 8.93 million haabout 89,000 km²
- Share of its forest
- 24%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 362,000 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Hectares of forest lost each year
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Cleared for good | Can grow back | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 9,640 ha | 134,000 ha | 143,000 ha |
| 2002 | 10,100 ha | 331,000 ha | 341,000 ha |
| 2003 | 6,890 ha | 128,000 ha | 135,000 ha |
| 2004 | 14,400 ha | 269,000 ha | 284,000 ha |
| 2005 | 12,800 ha | 220,000 ha | 233,000 ha |
| 2006 | 19,400 ha | 241,000 ha | 261,000 ha |
| 2007 | 14,900 ha | 214,000 ha | 229,000 ha |
| 2008 | 15,300 ha | 129,000 ha | 145,000 ha |
| 2009 | 14,700 ha | 135,000 ha | 150,000 ha |
| 2010 | 15,400 ha | 132,000 ha | 147,000 ha |
| 2011 | 16,500 ha | 383,000 ha | 400,000 ha |
| 2012 | 31,500 ha | 485,000 ha | 516,000 ha |
| 2013 | 15,100 ha | 144,000 ha | 159,000 ha |
| 2014 | 18,800 ha | 182,000 ha | 201,000 ha |
| 2015 | 16,500 ha | 458,000 ha | 474,000 ha |
| 2016 | 23,400 ha | 519,000 ha | 543,000 ha |
| 2017 | 17,700 ha | 179,000 ha | 197,000 ha |
| 2018 | 16,700 ha | 176,000 ha | 192,000 ha |
| 2019 | 12,100 ha | 571,000 ha | 583,000 ha |
| 2020 | 10,400 ha | 150,000 ha | 161,000 ha |
| 2021 | 9,220 ha | 164,000 ha | 173,000 ha |
| 2022 | 7,550 ha | 190,000 ha | 197,000 ha |
| 2023 | 5,900 ha | 1.43 million ha | 1.44 million ha |
| 2024 | 6,910 ha | 1 million ha | 1.01 million ha |
| 2025 | 19,900 ha | 594,000 ha | 614,000 ha |
Forest loss is speeding up: about 687,000 hectares a year in 2021–2025, up from 335,000 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2023, when about 1.44 million hectares of forest were lost, mostly to wildfires.
What is causing deforestation in Alberta?
- Wildfirescan grow back65% · 5.78 million ha
- Loggingcan grow back26% · 2.28 million ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good2.1% · 186,000 ha
Also: mining and energy, storms, floods and other natural causes, towns and roads, unknown causes.
Causes for 2025 are estimates, based on what caused forest loss in the same places up to 2024.
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. How it's measured
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