United States · Virginia · 7 places
Air quality in Virginia today The AQI right now, city by city
Right now, Roanoke has the cleanest air of the 6 Virginia cities we track (AQI 29, Good), and Newport News the worst (AQI 63, Moderate). Roanoke has the most tree cover, at 33.9%.
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 50
Good
- places tracked
- 7
- average tree cover
- 25.4%
- US cities: 25.1%
- worst air now: Newport News
- 63
- cleanest air now: Roanoke
- 29
Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf, refreshed hourly.
Virginia · average AQI 50
Air quality today across Virginia, city by city
| Virginia Beach | 59Moderate | 29.5% | 906 | #100 of 278 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norfolk | 59Moderate | 19.8% | 25.4K | #160 of 278 |
| Richmond | 42Good | 23.1% | 21.6K | #141 of 278 |
| Newport News | 63Moderate | 16.2% | 28.2K | #181 of 278 |
| Alexandria | 50Good | 29.8% | 423 | #98 of 278 |
| East Hampton | 63Moderate | 49.7% | — | — |
| Roanoke | 29Good | 33.9% | — | — |
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 Virginia lost?
Since 2001, Virginia has lost about 3.41 million acres (1.38 million hectares) of forest (about 14,000 km²): 20% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it was lost to logging, so much of it can grow back. About 345,000 acres (140,000 hectares) (10%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 3.41 million acres (1.38 million ha)about 14,000 km²
- Share of its forest
- 20%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 345,000 acres (140,000 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 | 14,500 acres (5,880 ha) | 122,000 acres (49,400 ha) | 137,000 acres (55,300 ha) |
| 2002 | 14,800 acres (5,990 ha) | 119,000 acres (48,100 ha) | 134,000 acres (54,100 ha) |
| 2003 | 11,400 acres (4,610 ha) | 89,500 acres (36,200 ha) | 101,000 acres (40,800 ha) |
| 2004 | 17,200 acres (6,970 ha) | 121,000 acres (49,200 ha) | 139,000 acres (56,100 ha) |
| 2005 | 23,600 acres (9,550 ha) | 132,000 acres (53,300 ha) | 155,000 acres (62,900 ha) |
| 2006 | 22,400 acres (9,050 ha) | 143,000 acres (57,900 ha) | 165,000 acres (66,900 ha) |
| 2007 | 21,700 acres (8,770 ha) | 146,000 acres (59,000 ha) | 167,000 acres (67,800 ha) |
| 2008 | 18,600 acres (7,540 ha) | 146,000 acres (59,200 ha) | 165,000 acres (66,700 ha) |
| 2009 | 12,900 acres (5,220 ha) | 126,000 acres (51,100 ha) | 139,000 acres (56,300 ha) |
| 2010 | 14,000 acres (5,680 ha) | 132,000 acres (53,400 ha) | 146,000 acres (59,100 ha) |
| 2011 | 10,900 acres (4,430 ha) | 111,000 acres (44,800 ha) | 122,000 acres (49,200 ha) |
| 2012 | 13,300 acres (5,370 ha) | 126,000 acres (50,900 ha) | 139,000 acres (56,300 ha) |
| 2013 | 11,300 acres (4,580 ha) | 125,000 acres (50,400 ha) | 136,000 acres (55,000 ha) |
| 2014 | 13,400 acres (5,430 ha) | 138,000 acres (55,800 ha) | 151,000 acres (61,300 ha) |
| 2015 | 13,000 acres (5,260 ha) | 144,000 acres (58,300 ha) | 157,000 acres (63,600 ha) |
| 2016 | 14,600 acres (5,910 ha) | 154,000 acres (62,300 ha) | 168,000 acres (68,200 ha) |
| 2017 | 16,400 acres (6,650 ha) | 155,000 acres (62,700 ha) | 171,000 acres (69,300 ha) |
| 2018 | 13,100 acres (5,310 ha) | 134,000 acres (54,100 ha) | 147,000 acres (59,400 ha) |
| 2019 | 11,200 acres (4,520 ha) | 124,000 acres (50,000 ha) | 135,000 acres (54,500 ha) |
| 2020 | 10,100 acres (4,070 ha) | 113,000 acres (45,800 ha) | 123,000 acres (49,900 ha) |
| 2021 | 9,980 acres (4,040 ha) | 107,000 acres (43,200 ha) | 117,000 acres (47,300 ha) |
| 2022 | 9,060 acres (3,670 ha) | 102,000 acres (41,300 ha) | 111,000 acres (44,900 ha) |
| 2023 | 9,840 acres (3,980 ha) | 91,400 acres (37,000 ha) | 101,000 acres (41,000 ha) |
| 2024 | 8,590 acres (3,480 ha) | 85,500 acres (34,600 ha) | 94,100 acres (38,100 ha) |
| 2025 | 9,420 acres (3,810 ha) | 78,800 acres (31,900 ha) | 88,200 acres (35,700 ha) |
Forest loss is slowing down: about 102,000 acres (41,400 hectares) a year in 2021–2025, down from 149,000 acres (60,300 hectares) a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2017, when about 171,000 acres (69,300 hectares) of forest were lost.
What is causing deforestation in Virginia?
- Loggingcan grow back89% · 3.03 million acres (1.23 million ha)
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good4.6% · 156,000 acres (63,000 ha)
- Towns and roadscleared for good4.5% · 153,000 acres (61,900 ha)
Also: mining and energy, wildfires, 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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