City report · Chiapas, Mexico
San Cristóbal de las Casas Air quality today
Air quality in San Cristóbal de las Casas currently reads AQI 32 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Air quality right now
AQI 32
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 5.8
- tree cover
- 21.0%
- trees in this area
- 66.0K
- more trees needed
- 28.3K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Sta Lucia, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chis., Mexico (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 10, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
San Cristóbal de las Casas · AQI 32 (Good)
San Cristóbal de las Casas's tree count comes to 65,973 trees across 12.57 km², 9 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 28,274 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in San Cristóbal de las Casas today: AQI 32, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 14:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Model estimate · no ground station nearby
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
5.8
PM10
7.3
NO₂
0.1
O₃
68.0
SO₂
0.8
CO
125.0
- Outdoor exercise
- A good day to be active outside
- Windows
- Open them to air the house
- Mask
- Not needed
- Air purifier
- Not needed
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put San Cristóbal de las Casas's daily AQI at 45 on average, from 42 on Nov 7 to an hourly peak of 71 on Nov 4.
Where San Cristóbal de las Casas stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in San Cristóbal de las Casas: Below target
21.0% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
65,973
Target trees
94,247
More trees needed
28,274
CO₂ if planted / yr
622.0 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has San Cristóbal de las Casas lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of San Cristóbal de las Casas has lost about 1,460 hectares of forest (about 2,000 football pitches): 8.2% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (88%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 5 km northeast of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 1,460 haabout 2,000 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 8.2%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 1,280 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 62 hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 76 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2017, when about 106 hectares of forest were lost.
Hectares of forest lost each year
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Cleared for good | Can grow back | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 42 ha | 3 ha | 46 ha |
| 2002 | 54 ha | 6 ha | 60 ha |
| 2003 | 25 ha | 3 ha | 28 ha |
| 2004 | 78 ha | 5 ha | 84 ha |
| 2005 | 34 ha | 3 ha | 37 ha |
| 2006 | 91 ha | 6 ha | 97 ha |
| 2007 | 54 ha | 6 ha | 60 ha |
| 2008 | 61 ha | 6 ha | 66 ha |
| 2009 | 64 ha | 9 ha | 73 ha |
| 2010 | 35 ha | 5 ha | 40 ha |
| 2011 | 40 ha | 3 ha | 43 ha |
| 2012 | 60 ha | 4 ha | 64 ha |
| 2013 | 16 ha | 2 ha | 17 ha |
| 2014 | 31 ha | 2 ha | 33 ha |
| 2015 | 24 ha | 4 ha | 28 ha |
| 2016 | 65 ha | 9 ha | 74 ha |
| 2017 | 93 ha | 13 ha | 106 ha |
| 2018 | 78 ha | 7 ha | 85 ha |
| 2019 | 58 ha | 6 ha | 64 ha |
| 2020 | 39 ha | 11 ha | 50 ha |
| 2021 | 61 ha | 9 ha | 70 ha |
| 2022 | 42 ha | 6 ha | 48 ha |
| 2023 | 43 ha | 7 ha | 50 ha |
| 2024 | 55 ha | 40 ha | 95 ha |
| 2025 | 41 ha | 4 ha | 45 ha |
What is causing deforestation around San Cristóbal de las Casas?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good59% · 865 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good26% · 382 ha
- Loggingcan grow back8.7% · 127 ha
Also: wildfires, mining and energy, storms, floods and other natural causes, unknown causes.
Causes for 2025 are estimates, based on what caused forest loss in the same places up to 2024.
Forest gained and lost, 2000–2020
- Forest in 2000
- 22,000 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 22,100 ha
- Overall change
- +155 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around San Cristóbal de las Casas stayed about the same size, at about 22,100 hectares: new forest grew on about 514 hectares, and about 359 hectares were lost.
These 2000 and 2020 maps, from the University of Maryland, count any land with trees taller than 5 m as forest, including plantations and orchards. Forest that was cut or burned and had grown back by 2020 counts in both years, so the loss here is smaller than the yearly figures.
These figures cover everything within 10 km of the city center, a wider area than the report above, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
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. Forest gained and lost 2000–2020: Potapov et al. 2022, UMD GLAD Global Land Cover and Land Use Change, CC BY 4.0. Images: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data. How it's measured
In the same region
Measured cities near San Cristóbal de las Casas
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Tuxtla50.9 km
Mexico
- Tree cover
- 16%
- Air quality
- 62
- Comitán76.3 km
Mexico
- Tree cover
- 14%
- Air quality
- 10
- Villahermosa143.3 km
Mexico
- Tree cover
- 17%
- Air quality
- 46
- Tapachula206.9 km
Mexico
- Tree cover
- 24%
- Air quality
- 31
- Ciudad del Carmen229.6 km
Mexico
- Tree cover
- 19%
- Air quality
- 36
- Coatepeque240.0 km
Guatemala
- Tree cover
- 56%
- Air quality
- 38
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Frequently asked
Questions about San Cristóbal de las Casas
What is the air quality (AQI) in San Cristóbal de las Casas right now?
The latest reading for San Cristóbal de las Casas shows an AQI of 32 (Good), observed Nov 10, 14:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in San Cristóbal de las Casas today?
At AQI 32 (Good): a good day to be active outside. Windows: open them to air the house. Masks: not needed. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in San Cristóbal de las Casas been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put San Cristóbal de las Casas's daily AQI at 45 on average, from 42 on Nov 7 to an hourly peak of 71 on Nov 4. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around San Cristóbal de las Casas lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of San Cristóbal de las Casas has lost about 1,460 hectares of forest (about 2,000 football pitches): 8.2% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (88%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 62 hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 76 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around San Cristóbal de las Casas stayed about the same size, at about 22,100 hectares: new forest grew on about 514 hectares, and about 359 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in San Cristóbal de las Casas?
San Cristóbal de las Casas has an estimated 65,973 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 21.0% tree cover, 9 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does San Cristóbal de las Casas need?
San Cristóbal de las Casas needs roughly 28,274 more trees to close a 9-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 622.0 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are San Cristóbal de las Casas's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality comes from ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ where one reports nearby, and otherwise, as here, from the Open-Meteo / CAMS model, which may differ from street-level monitors. Tree cover is measured from Sentinel-2 L2A (ESA Copernicus) via Earth Search satellite imagery at 10 m detail across a 2 km radius around Sta Lucia; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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