Brazil · Maranhão · 8 cities
Air quality in Maranhão today The AQI right now, city by city
Right now, Balsas has the cleanest air of the 8 cities we track in Maranhão (AQI 24, Good), and Bacabal the worst (AQI 75, Moderate). São José de Ribamar has the most tree cover, at 49.6% — #27 of 304 cities measured in Brazil.
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 55
Moderate
- cities tracked
- 8
- average tree cover
- 25.5%
- Brazil: 25.9%
- worst air now: Bacabal
- 75
- cleanest air now: Balsas
- 24
Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf, refreshed hourly.
Maranhão · average AQI 55
Air quality today across Maranhão, city by city
| São Luís | 45Good | 19.0% | 20.8K | #185 of 304 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imperatriz | 58Moderate | 17.2% | 32.8K | #200 of 304 |
| São José de Ribamar | 48Good | 49.6% | — | #27 of 304 |
| Caxias | 60Moderate | 33.3% | — | #69 of 304 |
| Codó | 75Moderate | 17.5% | 39.3K | #195 of 304 |
| Açailândia | 58Moderate | 22.0% | 25.1K | #161 of 304 |
| Bacabal | 75Moderate | 29.0% | 3.1K | #98 of 304 |
| Balsas | 24Good | 16.5% | 42.4K | #212 of 304 |
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 Brazil.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Maranhão lost?
Since 2001, Maranhão has lost about 6.96 million hectares of forest (about 70,000 km²): 33% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (83%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 6.96 million haabout 70,000 km²
- Share of its forest
- 33%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 5.78 million 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 | 75,700 ha | 8,520 ha | 84,200 ha |
| 2002 | 149,000 ha | 21,300 ha | 170,000 ha |
| 2003 | 86,800 ha | 9,340 ha | 96,200 ha |
| 2004 | 178,000 ha | 19,300 ha | 197,000 ha |
| 2005 | 148,000 ha | 20,400 ha | 168,000 ha |
| 2006 | 162,000 ha | 23,000 ha | 185,000 ha |
| 2007 | 182,000 ha | 26,200 ha | 208,000 ha |
| 2008 | 184,000 ha | 25,700 ha | 210,000 ha |
| 2009 | 102,000 ha | 16,700 ha | 119,000 ha |
| 2010 | 230,000 ha | 26,200 ha | 256,000 ha |
| 2011 | 122,000 ha | 17,200 ha | 140,000 ha |
| 2012 | 231,000 ha | 28,500 ha | 259,000 ha |
| 2013 | 235,000 ha | 44,700 ha | 279,000 ha |
| 2014 | 295,000 ha | 58,100 ha | 353,000 ha |
| 2015 | 241,000 ha | 40,600 ha | 282,000 ha |
| 2016 | 489,000 ha | 314,000 ha | 803,000 ha |
| 2017 | 362,000 ha | 90,400 ha | 453,000 ha |
| 2018 | 336,000 ha | 71,000 ha | 407,000 ha |
| 2019 | 229,000 ha | 32,500 ha | 261,000 ha |
| 2020 | 275,000 ha | 33,800 ha | 308,000 ha |
| 2021 | 267,000 ha | 33,600 ha | 300,000 ha |
| 2022 | 327,000 ha | 33,200 ha | 360,000 ha |
| 2023 | 371,000 ha | 43,400 ha | 414,000 ha |
| 2024 | 266,000 ha | 46,900 ha | 313,000 ha |
| 2025 | 237,000 ha | 99,500 ha | 337,000 ha |
Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 345,000 hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 446,000 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2016, when about 803,000 hectares of forest were lost.
What is causing deforestation in Maranhão?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good82% · 5.75 million ha
- Wildfirescan grow back7.7% · 540,000 ha
- Shifting farmingcan grow back5.5% · 381,000 ha
Also: logging, storms, floods and other natural causes, mining and energy, 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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