City report · Guangdong, China
Shantou Air quality today
Air quality in Shantou currently reads AQI 55 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Air quality right now
AQI 55
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 11.0
- tree cover
- 22.2%
- trees in this area
- 45.8K
- more trees needed
- 16.1K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Jinping District, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 17, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Shantou · AQI 55 (Moderate)
Shantou's tree count comes to 45,821 trees across 8.26 km² of land, 8 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 16,099 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Shantou today: AQI 55, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 22:00 local time via World Air Quality Index Project ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Jīnpíngzi, Shantou (汕头金平子站), 1.3 km away · median of 3 stations
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
11.0
PM10
32.4
NO₂
—
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: World Air Quality Index Project
- 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 Shantou's daily AQI at 62 on average, from 46 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 113 on Nov 5.
Where Shantou stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Shantou: Below target
22.2% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 8.26 km² of land.
Trees in this area
45,821
Target trees
61,920
More trees needed
16,099
CO₂ if planted / yr
354.2 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Shantou lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Shantou has lost about 135 hectares of forest (about 190 football pitches): 12% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (90%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from October 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km southeast of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 135 haabout 190 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 12%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 121 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2008, when about 34 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 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2002 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2005 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2006 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2007 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2008 | 25 ha | 9 ha | 34 ha |
| 2009 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2010 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 9 ha |
| 2011 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2012 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2013 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2014 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2015 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2016 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2017 | 10 ha | under 1 ha | 10 ha |
| 2018 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2019 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2020 | 14 ha | under 1 ha | 14 ha |
| 2021 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2022 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2023 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2024 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2025 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Shantou?
- Towns and roadscleared for good89% · 121 ha
- Wildfirescan grow back6.4% · 9 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown3.3% · 5 ha
Also: mining and energy, logging.
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
- 2,630 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 2,610 ha
- Overall change
- −18 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Shantou stayed about the same size, at about 2,610 hectares: new forest grew on about 163 hectares, and about 181 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
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Frequently asked
Questions about Shantou
What is the air quality (AQI) in Shantou right now?
The latest reading for Shantou shows an AQI of 55 (Moderate), measured Nov 11, 22:00 local time by 3 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Jīnpíngzi, Shantou (汕头金平子站), 1.3 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Shantou today?
At AQI 55 (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 Shantou been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Shantou's daily AQI at 62 on average, from 46 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 113 on Nov 5. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Shantou lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Shantou has lost about 135 hectares of forest (about 190 football pitches): 12% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (90%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Shantou stayed about the same size, at about 2,610 hectares: new forest grew on about 163 hectares, and about 181 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Shantou?
Shantou has an estimated 45,821 trees across the 8.26 km² of land measured — 22.2% tree cover, 8 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Shantou need?
Shantou needs roughly 16,099 more trees to close a 8-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 354.2 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Shantou's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Jinping District, 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 Jinping District; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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