Brazil · Rio Grande do Sul · 16 cities
Air quality in Rio Grande do Sul today The AQI right now, city by city
Right now, Bento Gonçalves has the cleanest air of the 16 cities we track in Rio Grande do Sul (AQI 12, Good), and Alvorada the worst (AQI 56, Moderate). Viamão has the most tree cover, at 58.0% — #13 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.
AQI 34
Average right now
Good
- cities tracked
- 16
- average tree cover
- 30.6%
- Brazil: 26.0%
- worst air now: Alvorada
- 56
- cleanest air now: Bento Gonçalves
- 12
Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf, refreshed hourly.
Rio Grande do Sul · average AQI 34
Air quality today across Rio Grande do Sul, city by city
| Porto Alegre | 44Good | 22.0% | 15.7K | #159 of 304 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caxias do Sul | 18Good | 17.7% | 38.6K | #193 of 304 |
| Pelotas | 31Good | 23.3% | 20.3K | #150 of 304 |
| Canoas | 49Good | 19.5% | 33.0K | #183 of 304 |
| Santa Maria | 52Moderate | 32.0% | — | #77 of 304 |
| Gravataí | 42Good | 41.9% | — | #46 of 304 |
| Novo Hamburgo | 28Good | 31.4% | — | #86 of 304 |
| Viamão | 38Good | 58.0% | — | #13 of 304 |
| Passo Fundo | 31Good | 26.2% | 11.9K | #123 of 304 |
| São Leopoldo | 26Good | 31.5% | — | #84 of 304 |
| Rio Grande | 29Good | 12.6% | 36.0K | #268 of 304 |
| Alvorada | 56Moderate | 21.9% | 25.4K | #161 of 304 |
| Santa Cruz do Sul | 24Good | 43.2% | — | #44 of 304 |
| Bento Gonçalves | 12Good | 40.2% | — | #52 of 304 |
| Bagé | 29Good | 35.4% | — | #61 of 304 |
| Uruguaiana | 37Good | 32.0% | — | #78 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 Rio Grande do Sul lost?
Since 2001, Rio Grande do Sul has lost about 904,000 hectares of forest (about 9,000 km²): 12% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it was lost to logging, so much of it can grow back. About 338,000 hectares (37%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 904,000 haabout 9,000 km²
- Share of its forest
- 12%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 338,000 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 | 7,990 ha | 18,100 ha | 26,100 ha |
| 2002 | 6,750 ha | 15,200 ha | 22,000 ha |
| 2003 | 10,500 ha | 19,000 ha | 29,600 ha |
| 2004 | 12,600 ha | 17,800 ha | 30,400 ha |
| 2005 | 10,100 ha | 20,200 ha | 30,300 ha |
| 2006 | 9,700 ha | 15,900 ha | 25,600 ha |
| 2007 | 8,440 ha | 17,900 ha | 26,300 ha |
| 2008 | 9,550 ha | 15,200 ha | 24,700 ha |
| 2009 | 6,770 ha | 11,400 ha | 18,200 ha |
| 2010 | 8,100 ha | 16,000 ha | 24,100 ha |
| 2011 | 7,980 ha | 14,800 ha | 22,800 ha |
| 2012 | 23,500 ha | 32,400 ha | 55,900 ha |
| 2013 | 13,300 ha | 21,500 ha | 34,800 ha |
| 2014 | 17,900 ha | 26,100 ha | 44,000 ha |
| 2015 | 10,100 ha | 19,400 ha | 29,500 ha |
| 2016 | 19,000 ha | 29,800 ha | 48,800 ha |
| 2017 | 33,500 ha | 38,300 ha | 71,800 ha |
| 2018 | 14,400 ha | 27,300 ha | 41,700 ha |
| 2019 | 13,200 ha | 28,600 ha | 41,800 ha |
| 2020 | 15,900 ha | 30,000 ha | 45,900 ha |
| 2021 | 22,900 ha | 34,300 ha | 57,200 ha |
| 2022 | 17,800 ha | 29,800 ha | 47,600 ha |
| 2023 | 14,600 ha | 25,700 ha | 40,400 ha |
| 2024 | 12,400 ha | 21,100 ha | 33,500 ha |
| 2025 | 11,000 ha | 20,000 ha | 31,000 ha |
Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 41,900 hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 50,000 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2017, when about 71,800 hectares of forest were lost.
What is causing deforestation in Rio Grande do Sul?
- Loggingcan grow back61% · 548,000 ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good36% · 327,000 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good1.1% · 10,100 ha
Also: storms, floods and other natural causes, wildfires, mining and energy, shifting farming, 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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