United States · South Carolina · 3 places
Air quality in South Carolina today The AQI right now, city by city
Right now, Columbia has the cleanest air of the 3 South Carolina cities we track (AQI 59, Moderate), and North Charleston the worst (AQI 66, Moderate). North Charleston has the most tree cover, at 36.2% — #58 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 64
Moderate
- places tracked
- 3
- average tree cover
- 31.3%
- US cities: 25.1%
- worst air now: North Charleston
- 66
- cleanest air now: Columbia
- 59
Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf, refreshed hourly.
South Carolina · average AQI 64
Air quality today across South Carolina, city by city
| Columbia | 59Moderate | 30.6% | — | #89 of 278 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston | 66Moderate | 27.0% | 4.3K | #117 of 278 |
| North Charleston | 66Moderate | 36.2% | — | #58 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 South Carolina lost?
Since 2001, South Carolina has lost about 5.02 million acres (2.03 million hectares) of forest (about 20,000 km²): 38% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it was lost to logging, so much of it can grow back. About 411,000 acres (166,000 hectares) (8.2%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 5.02 million acres (2.03 million ha)about 20,000 km²
- Share of its forest
- 38%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 411,000 acres (166,000 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 | 17,900 acres (7,260 ha) | 189,000 acres (76,600 ha) | 207,000 acres (83,900 ha) |
| 2002 | 19,300 acres (7,830 ha) | 215,000 acres (87,200 ha) | 235,000 acres (95,000 ha) |
| 2003 | 17,300 acres (6,990 ha) | 145,000 acres (58,600 ha) | 162,000 acres (65,500 ha) |
| 2004 | 22,500 acres (9,090 ha) | 218,000 acres (88,200 ha) | 240,000 acres (97,300 ha) |
| 2005 | 27,400 acres (11,100 ha) | 207,000 acres (83,600 ha) | 234,000 acres (94,700 ha) |
| 2006 | 26,700 acres (10,800 ha) | 210,000 acres (85,200 ha) | 237,000 acres (96,000 ha) |
| 2007 | 24,600 acres (9,940 ha) | 204,000 acres (82,600 ha) | 229,000 acres (92,500 ha) |
| 2008 | 20,300 acres (8,220 ha) | 205,000 acres (82,900 ha) | 225,000 acres (91,200 ha) |
| 2009 | 13,300 acres (5,380 ha) | 143,000 acres (58,000 ha) | 157,000 acres (63,400 ha) |
| 2010 | 17,100 acres (6,920 ha) | 205,000 acres (83,000 ha) | 222,000 acres (90,000 ha) |
| 2011 | 13,900 acres (5,620 ha) | 164,000 acres (66,500 ha) | 178,000 acres (72,200 ha) |
| 2012 | 14,600 acres (5,910 ha) | 200,000 acres (80,800 ha) | 214,000 acres (86,700 ha) |
| 2013 | 12,700 acres (5,150 ha) | 181,000 acres (73,100 ha) | 193,000 acres (78,200 ha) |
| 2014 | 14,800 acres (6,000 ha) | 203,000 acres (82,200 ha) | 218,000 acres (88,200 ha) |
| 2015 | 15,600 acres (6,310 ha) | 184,000 acres (74,300 ha) | 199,000 acres (80,600 ha) |
| 2016 | 20,200 acres (8,180 ha) | 227,000 acres (91,700 ha) | 247,000 acres (99,900 ha) |
| 2017 | 19,900 acres (8,060 ha) | 235,000 acres (95,300 ha) | 255,000 acres (103,000 ha) |
| 2018 | 14,400 acres (5,820 ha) | 207,000 acres (83,700 ha) | 221,000 acres (89,500 ha) |
| 2019 | 11,800 acres (4,790 ha) | 190,000 acres (77,000 ha) | 202,000 acres (81,800 ha) |
| 2020 | 11,900 acres (4,840 ha) | 179,000 acres (72,500 ha) | 191,000 acres (77,300 ha) |
| 2021 | 11,100 acres (4,500 ha) | 153,000 acres (62,100 ha) | 165,000 acres (66,600 ha) |
| 2022 | 12,000 acres (4,840 ha) | 159,000 acres (64,200 ha) | 171,000 acres (69,000 ha) |
| 2023 | 10,600 acres (4,280 ha) | 138,000 acres (56,000 ha) | 149,000 acres (60,300 ha) |
| 2024 | 9,240 acres (3,740 ha) | 127,000 acres (51,200 ha) | 136,000 acres (55,000 ha) |
| 2025 | 11,600 acres (4,690 ha) | 118,000 acres (47,600 ha) | 129,000 acres (52,300 ha) |
Forest loss is slowing down: about 150,000 acres (60,600 hectares) a year in 2021–2025, down from 223,000 acres (90,400 hectares) a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2017, when about 255,000 acres (103,000 hectares) of forest were lost.
What is causing deforestation in South Carolina?
- Loggingcan grow back91% · 4.58 million acres (1.85 million ha)
- Towns and roadscleared for good5.4% · 273,000 acres (110,000 ha)
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good2.2% · 111,000 acres (45,000 ha)
Also: mining and energy, storms, floods and other natural causes, wildfires, 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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