City report · Free State, South Africa
Sasolburg Air quality today
Air quality in Sasolburg currently reads AQI 133 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
AQI 133
Air quality right now
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 48.5
- tree cover
- 31.9%
- trees in this area
- 100K
- more trees needed
- 9.7K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Sasolburg, South Africa (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 22, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Sasolburg · AQI 133 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups)
Sasolburg's tree count comes to 100,117 trees across 12.56 km² of land, 3 points below the 35% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 9,729 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Sasolburg today: AQI 133, Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 20:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Zamdela-NAQI, 5.2 km away
Health signal
Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
PM2.5
48.5
PM10
—
NO₂
—
O₃
67.5
SO₂
13.3
CO
546.5
Data: OpenAQ · South Africa, South African Air Quality Information System (SAAQIS)
- Outdoor exercise
- Children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise
- Windows
- Close them to keep the outside air out
- Mask
- Sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors
- Air purifier
- Run one, especially in bedrooms
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Sasolburg's daily AQI at 74 on average, from 45 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 153 on Nov 11.
Where Sasolburg stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Sasolburg: Below target
31.9% tree cover against a 35% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.56 km² of land.
Trees in this area
100,117
Target trees
109,846
More trees needed
9,729
CO₂ if planted / yr
214.0 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Sasolburg lost?
There was very little forest around Sasolburg in 2000, about 38 hectares, and about 4 hectares of it has been lost since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here.
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
The worst year was 2002, when about 1 hectare 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2002 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2005 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2006 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2007 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2008 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2009 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2010 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2011 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2012 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2013 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2014 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2015 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2016 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2017 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2018 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2019 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2020 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2021 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2022 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2023 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2024 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2025 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Sasolburg?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good59% · 2 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good24% · 1 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown20% · under 1 ha
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
- 400 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 415 ha
- Overall change
- +15 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Sasolburg grew from about 400 hectares to 415 hectares, a net gain of about 15 hectares (+3.8%). New forest grew on about 29 hectares, while 14 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 Sasolburg
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Vereeniging19.0 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 17%
- Air quality
- 108
- Evaton31.3 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 3%
- Air quality
- 86
- Westonaria57.5 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 9%
- Air quality
- 57
- Tokoza59.2 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 7%
- Air quality
- 105
- Soweto60.8 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 6%
- Air quality
- 66
- Carletonville65.4 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 23%
- Air quality
- 42
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Frequently asked
Questions about Sasolburg
What is the air quality (AQI) in Sasolburg right now?
The latest reading for Sasolburg shows an AQI of 133 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups), measured Nov 11, 20:00 local time by the Zamdela-NAQI ground monitoring station, 5.2 km away, via OpenAQ. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Sasolburg today?
At AQI 133 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups): children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise. Windows: close them to keep the outside air out. Masks: sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Sasolburg been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Sasolburg's daily AQI at 74 on average, from 45 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 153 on Nov 11. On 1 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Sasolburg lost since 2001?
There was very little forest around Sasolburg in 2000, about 38 hectares, and about 4 hectares of it has been lost since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Sasolburg grew from about 400 hectares to 415 hectares, a net gain of about 15 hectares (+3.8%). New forest grew on about 29 hectares, while 14 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Sasolburg?
Sasolburg has an estimated 100,117 trees across the 12.56 km² of land measured — 31.9% tree cover, 3 percentage points short of the 35% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Sasolburg need?
Sasolburg needs roughly 9,729 more trees to close a 3-point shortfall against its 35% tree-cover target — about 214.0 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Sasolburg's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Sasolburg, via OpenAQ; the 7-day trend is the Open-Meteo / CAMS model's estimate. 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 Sasolburg; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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