Mexico · Chiapas · 4 cities
Air quality in Chiapas today The AQI right now, city by city
Right now, Comitán has the cleanest air of the 4 cities we track in Chiapas (AQI 10, Good), and Tuxtla the worst (AQI 134, Unhealthy for sensitive groups). Tapachula has the most tree cover, at 23.7% — #20 of 114 cities measured in Mexico.
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.
AQI 52
Average right now
Moderate
- cities tracked
- 4
- average tree cover
- 18.7%
- Mexico: 14.6%
- worst air now: Tuxtla
- 134
- cleanest air now: Comitán
- 10
Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf, refreshed hourly.
Chiapas · average AQI 52
Air quality today across Chiapas, city by city
| Tuxtla | 134Unhealthy for sensitive groups | 15.9% | 60.0K | #45 of 114 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tapachula | 31Good | 23.7% | 19.8K | #20 of 114 |
| San Cristóbal de las Casas | 32Good | 21.0% | 28.3K | #27 of 114 |
| Comitán | 10Good | 14.1% | 50.0K | #48 of 114 |
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 Mexico.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Chiapas lost?
Since 2001, Chiapas has lost about 864,000 hectares of forest (about 8,600 km²): 18% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (82%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 864,000 haabout 8,600 km²
- Share of its forest
- 18%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 706,000 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 | 18,000 ha | 2,170 ha | 20,100 ha |
| 2002 | 15,300 ha | 1,510 ha | 16,800 ha |
| 2003 | 20,600 ha | 1,370 ha | 22,000 ha |
| 2004 | 23,600 ha | 1,730 ha | 25,300 ha |
| 2005 | 21,900 ha | 2,010 ha | 23,900 ha |
| 2006 | 18,500 ha | 1,620 ha | 20,100 ha |
| 2007 | 30,700 ha | 1,950 ha | 32,600 ha |
| 2008 | 25,900 ha | 2,550 ha | 28,500 ha |
| 2009 | 28,800 ha | 3,440 ha | 32,200 ha |
| 2010 | 25,700 ha | 2,490 ha | 28,100 ha |
| 2011 | 22,300 ha | 2,740 ha | 25,100 ha |
| 2012 | 22,800 ha | 4,010 ha | 26,800 ha |
| 2013 | 28,500 ha | 6,890 ha | 35,400 ha |
| 2014 | 27,700 ha | 5,570 ha | 33,300 ha |
| 2015 | 25,900 ha | 6,350 ha | 32,200 ha |
| 2016 | 53,100 ha | 15,200 ha | 68,300 ha |
| 2017 | 39,900 ha | 11,100 ha | 51,000 ha |
| 2018 | 44,300 ha | 10,200 ha | 54,500 ha |
| 2019 | 51,300 ha | 19,400 ha | 70,700 ha |
| 2020 | 37,000 ha | 10,900 ha | 47,900 ha |
| 2021 | 22,400 ha | 5,910 ha | 28,400 ha |
| 2022 | 22,500 ha | 5,710 ha | 28,200 ha |
| 2023 | 28,800 ha | 7,070 ha | 35,900 ha |
| 2024 | 31,500 ha | 20,900 ha | 52,500 ha |
| 2025 | 18,800 ha | 4,950 ha | 23,700 ha |
Forest loss is slowing down: about 33,700 hectares a year in 2021–2025, down from 58,500 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2019, when about 70,700 hectares of forest were lost.
What is causing deforestation in Chiapas?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good81% · 700,000 ha
- Shifting farmingcan grow back13% · 114,000 ha
- Wildfirescan grow back3.9% · 33,300 ha
Also: logging, towns and roads, storms, floods and other natural causes, mining and energy, 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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