Mexico · Quintana Roo · 3 cities
Air quality in Quintana Roo today The AQI right now, city by city
Right now, Chetumal has the cleanest air of the 3 cities we track in Quintana Roo (AQI 17, Good), and Cancún the worst (AQI 46, Good). Playa del Carmen has the most tree cover, at 24.7% — #17 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.
Average right now
AQI 30
Good
- cities tracked
- 3
- average tree cover
- 18.7%
- Mexico: 14.6%
- worst air now: Cancún
- 46
- cleanest air now: Chetumal
- 17
Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf, refreshed hourly.
Quintana Roo · average AQI 30
Air quality today across Quintana Roo, city by city
| Cancún | 46Good | 12.0% | 56.5K | #58 of 114 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chetumal | 17Good | 19.3% | 33.6K | #31 of 114 |
| Playa del Carmen | 28Good | 24.7% | 13.0K | #17 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 Quintana Roo lost?
Since 2001, Quintana Roo has lost about 663,000 hectares of forest (about 6,600 km²): 18% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (63%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 663,000 haabout 6,600 km²
- Share of its forest
- 18%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 417,000 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 | 10,900 ha | 3,330 ha | 14,200 ha |
| 2002 | 22,200 ha | 7,290 ha | 29,500 ha |
| 2003 | 16,100 ha | 4,130 ha | 20,200 ha |
| 2004 | 13,400 ha | 3,250 ha | 16,600 ha |
| 2005 | 18,600 ha | 4,290 ha | 22,900 ha |
| 2006 | 13,400 ha | 24,900 ha | 38,300 ha |
| 2007 | 16,200 ha | 3,710 ha | 19,900 ha |
| 2008 | 18,500 ha | 10,400 ha | 28,900 ha |
| 2009 | 25,300 ha | 20,400 ha | 45,700 ha |
| 2010 | 13,200 ha | 4,760 ha | 17,900 ha |
| 2011 | 20,200 ha | 18,700 ha | 38,900 ha |
| 2012 | 13,900 ha | 3,210 ha | 17,100 ha |
| 2013 | 16,600 ha | 11,100 ha | 27,700 ha |
| 2014 | 13,100 ha | 3,140 ha | 16,200 ha |
| 2015 | 19,100 ha | 18,400 ha | 37,500 ha |
| 2016 | 13,300 ha | 4,740 ha | 18,000 ha |
| 2017 | 26,600 ha | 8,860 ha | 35,500 ha |
| 2018 | 13,200 ha | 1,950 ha | 15,200 ha |
| 2019 | 27,600 ha | 7,440 ha | 35,100 ha |
| 2020 | 21,000 ha | 34,300 ha | 55,300 ha |
| 2021 | 9,610 ha | 3,730 ha | 13,300 ha |
| 2022 | 12,100 ha | 5,190 ha | 17,300 ha |
| 2023 | 15,100 ha | 3,110 ha | 18,200 ha |
| 2024 | 18,200 ha | 31,000 ha | 49,200 ha |
| 2025 | 9,430 ha | 5,060 ha | 14,500 ha |
Forest loss is slowing down: about 22,500 hectares a year in 2021–2025, down from 31,800 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2020, when about 55,300 hectares of forest were lost, mostly to wildfires.
What is causing deforestation in Quintana Roo?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good57% · 380,000 ha
- Wildfirescan grow back25% · 166,000 ha
- Shifting farmingcan grow back8.7% · 57,600 ha
Also: towns and roads, storms, floods and other natural causes, mining and energy, logging, 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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Cleaner air at home in Quintana Roo
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