United States · North Carolina · 9 places
Air quality in North Carolina today The AQI right now, city by city
Right now, Greensboro has the cleanest air of the 9 North Carolina cities we track (AQI 18, Good), and Wilmington the worst (AQI 96, Moderate). Cary has the most tree cover, at 69.8% — #2 of 278 large US cities.
Every place is measured the same way, over the same 1.2 mi (2 km) around its center: the air quality right now, from ground stations where there are any, and its tree cover.
Average right now
AQI 37
Good
- places tracked
- 9
- average tree cover
- 43.2%
- US cities: 25.1%
- worst air now: Wilmington
- 96
- cleanest air now: Greensboro
- 18
Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf, refreshed hourly.
North Carolina · average AQI 37
Air quality today across North Carolina, city by city
| Charlotte | 51Moderate | 26.6% | 10.7K | #122 of 278 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raleigh | 47Good | 40.8% | — | #35 of 278 |
| Greensboro | 18Good | 41.5% | — | #33 of 278 |
| Durham | 26Good | 48.8% | — | #16 of 278 |
| Winston-Salem | 40Good | 37.1% | — | #50 of 278 |
| Fayetteville | 18Good | 42.8% | — | #25 of 278 |
| Cary | 22Good | 69.8% | — | #2 of 278 |
| Wilmington | 96Moderate | 39.1% | — | #42 of 278 |
| High Point | 18Good | 42.0% | — | #28 of 278 |
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 1.2 mi (2 km) of each city center from Sentinel-2 imagery. The US greenness rank covers cities of 100,000+ people; see the full ranking.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has North Carolina lost?
Since 2001, North Carolina has lost about 5.43 million acres (2.2 million hectares) of forest (about 22,000 km²): 27% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it was lost to logging, so much of it can grow back. About 657,000 acres (266,000 hectares) (12%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 5.43 million acres (2.2 million ha)about 22,000 km²
- Share of its forest
- 27%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 657,000 acres (266,000 ha)deforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Acres of forest lost each year
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Cleared for good | Can grow back | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 26,700 acres (10,800 ha) | 202,000 acres (81,800 ha) | 229,000 acres (92,600 ha) |
| 2002 | 26,000 acres (10,500 ha) | 194,000 acres (78,500 ha) | 220,000 acres (89,000 ha) |
| 2003 | 20,900 acres (8,440 ha) | 145,000 acres (58,700 ha) | 166,000 acres (67,100 ha) |
| 2004 | 36,100 acres (14,600 ha) | 199,000 acres (80,700 ha) | 235,000 acres (95,300 ha) |
| 2005 | 38,300 acres (15,500 ha) | 220,000 acres (88,900 ha) | 258,000 acres (104,000 ha) |
| 2006 | 37,200 acres (15,100 ha) | 207,000 acres (83,600 ha) | 244,000 acres (98,700 ha) |
| 2007 | 41,300 acres (16,700 ha) | 218,000 acres (88,400 ha) | 260,000 acres (105,000 ha) |
| 2008 | 27,800 acres (11,200 ha) | 226,000 acres (91,300 ha) | 253,000 acres (103,000 ha) |
| 2009 | 19,400 acres (7,870 ha) | 155,000 acres (62,700 ha) | 174,000 acres (70,600 ha) |
| 2010 | 26,500 acres (10,700 ha) | 187,000 acres (75,900 ha) | 214,000 acres (86,600 ha) |
| 2011 | 23,600 acres (9,540 ha) | 188,000 acres (75,900 ha) | 211,000 acres (85,400 ha) |
| 2012 | 26,700 acres (10,800 ha) | 199,000 acres (80,700 ha) | 226,000 acres (91,500 ha) |
| 2013 | 22,500 acres (9,090 ha) | 180,000 acres (72,900 ha) | 203,000 acres (82,000 ha) |
| 2014 | 25,200 acres (10,200 ha) | 204,000 acres (82,500 ha) | 229,000 acres (92,700 ha) |
| 2015 | 27,900 acres (11,300 ha) | 208,000 acres (84,100 ha) | 236,000 acres (95,400 ha) |
| 2016 | 31,800 acres (12,900 ha) | 241,000 acres (97,500 ha) | 273,000 acres (110,000 ha) |
| 2017 | 31,000 acres (12,500 ha) | 250,000 acres (101,000 ha) | 281,000 acres (114,000 ha) |
| 2018 | 25,100 acres (10,200 ha) | 207,000 acres (83,900 ha) | 232,000 acres (94,000 ha) |
| 2019 | 22,400 acres (9,080 ha) | 198,000 acres (80,000 ha) | 220,000 acres (89,100 ha) |
| 2020 | 20,800 acres (8,400 ha) | 173,000 acres (70,200 ha) | 194,000 acres (78,600 ha) |
| 2021 | 19,700 acres (7,960 ha) | 167,000 acres (67,600 ha) | 187,000 acres (75,600 ha) |
| 2022 | 22,400 acres (9,080 ha) | 162,000 acres (65,600 ha) | 185,000 acres (74,700 ha) |
| 2023 | 18,000 acres (7,270 ha) | 168,000 acres (67,900 ha) | 186,000 acres (75,100 ha) |
| 2024 | 17,800 acres (7,190 ha) | 149,000 acres (60,300 ha) | 167,000 acres (67,500 ha) |
| 2025 | 21,700 acres (8,770 ha) | 128,000 acres (51,700 ha) | 149,000 acres (60,500 ha) |
Forest loss is slowing down: about 175,000 acres (70,700 hectares) a year in 2021–2025, down from 240,000 acres (97,200 hectares) a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2017, when about 281,000 acres (114,000 hectares) of forest were lost.
What is causing deforestation in North Carolina?
- Loggingcan grow back85% · 4.61 million acres (1.87 million ha)
- Towns and roadscleared for good7.3% · 398,000 acres (161,000 ha)
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good4.3% · 236,000 acres (95,500 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.
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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