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Air quality now: Mbeya

Tanzania · Mbeya · 2 cities

Air quality in Mbeya today The AQI right now, city by city

Right now, Katumba has the cleanest air of the 2 cities we track in Mbeya (AQI 62, Moderate), and Mbeya the worst (AQI 67, Moderate). Mbeya has the most tree cover, at 13.7% — #21 of 33 cities measured in Tanzania.

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.

cities tracked
2
average tree cover
40.4%
Tanzania: 20.7%
worst air now: Mbeya
67
cleanest air now: Katumba
62

Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf, refreshed hourly.

Mbeya

Air quality today across Mbeya, city by city

Current air quality and tree cover for cities in Mbeya, Tanzania
Mbeya67Moderate13.7%51.2K#21 of 33
Katumba62Moderate67.0%——

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 Tanzania.

Deforestation · 2001–2025

How much forest has Mbeya lost?

Since 2001, Mbeya has lost about 196,000 hectares of forest (about 280,000 football pitches): 15% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (93%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.

Forest lost since 2001
196,000 haabout 280,000 football pitches
Share of its forest
15%of what there was in 2000
Cleared for good
182,000 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Forest lost each year in Mbeya, 2001–2025

Hectares of forest lost each year

Forest lost each year in Mbeya, 2001–2025. Use the left and right arrow keys to read each year.19.8K

Show the figures as a table
Forest lost each year in Mbeya, 2001–2025
YearCleared for goodCan grow backTotal
2001853 ha354 ha1,210 ha
20021,440 ha134 ha1,580 ha
20032,720 ha484 ha3,210 ha
2004449 ha161 ha610 ha
20052,020 ha456 ha2,480 ha
2006527 ha53 ha580 ha
20072,850 ha270 ha3,120 ha
20081,550 ha214 ha1,760 ha
20095,340 ha330 ha5,670 ha
20102,290 ha215 ha2,510 ha
2011638 ha94 ha732 ha
20126,260 ha395 ha6,650 ha
20136,270 ha1,060 ha7,330 ha
201410,100 ha1,440 ha11,600 ha
20156,620 ha589 ha7,210 ha
201611,700 ha828 ha12,500 ha
20176,620 ha537 ha7,150 ha
201812,200 ha680 ha12,900 ha
20199,730 ha384 ha10,100 ha
202018,700 ha1,060 ha19,800 ha
202113,600 ha758 ha14,400 ha
202212,000 ha718 ha12,700 ha
202314,600 ha720 ha15,400 ha
202416,400 ha881 ha17,300 ha
202516,500 ha1,450 ha17,900 ha

Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 15,500 hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 12,500 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2020, when about 19,800 hectares of forest were lost.

What is causing deforestation in Mbeya?

  • Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good93% · 182,000 ha
  • Loggingcan grow back3.4% · 6,670 ha
  • Shifting farmingcan grow back2.9% · 5,750 ha

Also: storms, floods and other natural causes, wildfires, towns and roads, 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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