City report · Calabarzon, Philippines
Santa Cruz Air quality today
Air quality in Santa Cruz currently reads AQI 61 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
AQI 61
Air quality right now
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 13.9
- tree cover
- 18.5%
- trees in this area
- 49.5K
- more trees needed
- 30.8K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Barangay III, Santa Cruz, Laguna, Philippines (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 25, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Santa Cruz · AQI 61 (Moderate)
Santa Cruz's tree count comes to 49,518 trees across 10.71 km² of land, 12 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 30,781 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Santa Cruz today: AQI 61, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 11:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 8 ground-station cities within 65 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 8 station cities within 65 km, e.g. Binangonan and City of Santa Rosa
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
13.9
PM10
5.9
NO₂
1.1
O₃
85.0
SO₂
2.0
CO
157.0
- Outdoor exercise
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier
- Windows
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution
- Mask
- Not needed for most people
- Air purifier
- Worth running if you are sensitive
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Santa Cruz's daily AQI at 26 on average, from 16 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 54 on Nov 10.
Where Santa Cruz stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Santa Cruz: Below target
18.5% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 10.71 km² of land.
Trees in this area
49,518
Target trees
80,299
More trees needed
30,781
CO₂ if planted / yr
677.2 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Santa Cruz lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Santa Cruz has lost about 1,040 hectares of forest (about 1,500 football pitches): 9.5% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (99%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from June 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 1,040 haabout 1,500 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 9.5%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 1,030 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2010, when about 293 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 | 136 ha | 2 ha | 138 ha |
| 2002 | 32 ha | under 1 ha | 32 ha |
| 2003 | 12 ha | under 1 ha | 12 ha |
| 2004 | 21 ha | under 1 ha | 22 ha |
| 2005 | 24 ha | under 1 ha | 25 ha |
| 2006 | 123 ha | 1 ha | 124 ha |
| 2007 | 34 ha | under 1 ha | 35 ha |
| 2008 | 68 ha | under 1 ha | 68 ha |
| 2009 | 66 ha | under 1 ha | 66 ha |
| 2010 | 292 ha | 1 ha | 293 ha |
| 2011 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2012 | 58 ha | 1 ha | 59 ha |
| 2013 | 12 ha | under 1 ha | 13 ha |
| 2014 | 48 ha | 1 ha | 49 ha |
| 2015 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2016 | 18 ha | under 1 ha | 18 ha |
| 2017 | 13 ha | under 1 ha | 13 ha |
| 2018 | 7 ha | under 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2019 | 7 ha | under 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2020 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2021 | 10 ha | under 1 ha | 10 ha |
| 2022 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2023 | 12 ha | under 1 ha | 13 ha |
| 2024 | 23 ha | under 1 ha | 23 ha |
| 2025 | 7 ha | under 1 ha | 7 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Santa Cruz?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good98% · 1,020 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good1.1% · 11 ha
Also: shifting farming, 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
- 10,700 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 10,500 ha
- Overall change
- −187 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Santa Cruz stayed about the same size, at about 10,500 hectares: new forest grew on about 109 hectares, and about 296 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 Santa Cruz
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Los Baños22.5 km
Philippines
- Tree cover
- 66%
- Air quality
- 69
- San Pablo25.6 km
Philippines
- Tree cover
- 45%
- Air quality
- 65
- Calamba28.1 km
Philippines
- Tree cover
- 41%
- Air quality
- 65
- Binangonan31.5 km
Philippines
- Tree cover
- 53%
- Air quality
- 43
- Santa Rosa33.0 km
Philippines
- Tree cover
- 31%
- Air quality
- 13
- Tayabas34.2 km
Philippines
- Tree cover
- 62%
- Air quality
- 43
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Frequently asked
Questions about Santa Cruz
What is the air quality (AQI) in Santa Cruz right now?
The latest reading for Santa Cruz shows an AQI of 61 (Moderate), observed Nov 11, 11:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 8 ground-station cities within 65 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Santa Cruz today?
At AQI 61 (Moderate): fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier. Windows: fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution. Masks: not needed for most people. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Santa Cruz been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Santa Cruz's daily AQI at 26 on average, from 16 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 54 on Nov 10. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Santa Cruz lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Santa Cruz has lost about 1,040 hectares of forest (about 1,500 football pitches): 9.5% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (99%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Santa Cruz stayed about the same size, at about 10,500 hectares: new forest grew on about 109 hectares, and about 296 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Santa Cruz?
Santa Cruz has an estimated 49,518 trees across the 10.71 km² of land measured — 18.5% tree cover, 12 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Santa Cruz need?
Santa Cruz needs roughly 30,781 more trees to close a 12-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 677.2 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Santa Cruz'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 Barangay III; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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