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City report · Nova Scotia, Canada

Sydney Air quality today

Air quality in Sydney currently reads AQI 20 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

Air quality right now

AQI 20

Good

Main pollutant: Ozone
PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
3.0
tree cover
32.0%
trees in this area
88.7K
more trees needed
0

Measured across a 2 km radius around Sydney, NS, Canada (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Aug 27, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.

Sydney · AQI 20 (Good)

Dark green marks tree cover detected inside the study radius.Sentinel-2 L2A (ESA Copernicus) via Earth Search, captured Aug 27, 2026

Sydney's tree count comes to 88,668 trees across 11.09 km² of land, already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.

Air quality detail

Air quality in Sydney today: AQI 20, Good

Main pollutant: Ozone · Observed Nov 11, 11:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.

Ground station · SYDNEY, 1.1 km away

Health signal

Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

PM2.5

3.0

PM10

—

NO₂

1.5

O₃

43.2

SO₂

0.8

CO

0.0

Data: OpenAQ · AirNow

Outdoor exercise
A good day to be active outside
Windows
Open them to air the house
Mask
Not needed
Air purifier
Not needed

Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Sydney's daily AQI at 28 on average, from 15 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 53 on Nov 5.

Last 7 days · model estimateavg 28 · peak 53
Nov 4: AQI 27 (peak 43)Nov 5: AQI 45 (peak 53)Nov 6: AQI 34 (peak 40)Nov 7: AQI 22 (peak 30)Nov 8: AQI 36 (peak 46)Nov 9: AQI 18 (peak 36)Nov 10: AQI 15 (peak 23)
Nov 4Nov 10

This is the US EPA AQI. How it differs from Canada's AQHI

Where Sydney stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest

Tree cover detail

Tree cover in Sydney: Healthy tree cover

32.0% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 11.09 km² of land.

Target reached

Trees in this area

88,668

Target trees

88,668

More trees needed

0

CO₂ if planted / yr

0 kg

Deforestation · 2001–2025

How much forest has Sydney lost?

Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Sydney has lost about 2,020 hectares of forest (about 2,800 football pitches): 9.6% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it was lost to logging, so much of it can grow back. About 508 hectares (25%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns.

Satellite image of the area around Sydney, July 2017

2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 5 km south of the city center.

Forest lost since 2001
2,020 haabout 2,800 football pitches
Share of its forest
9.6%of what there was in 2000
Cleared for good
508 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns

Forest loss is speeding up: about 88 hectares a year in 2021–2025, up from 32 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2002, when about 152 hectares of forest were lost.

Forest lost each year around Sydney, 2001–2025

Hectares of forest lost each year

Forest lost each year around Sydney, 2001–2025. Use the left and right arrow keys to read each year.152

Show the figures as a table
Forest lost each year around Sydney, 2001–2025
YearCleared for goodCan grow backTotal
200121 ha102 ha123 ha
200235 ha117 ha152 ha
20037 ha107 ha114 ha
200434 ha92 ha126 ha
200536 ha105 ha141 ha
200641 ha44 ha85 ha
200742 ha46 ha88 ha
200819 ha39 ha58 ha
200924 ha40 ha65 ha
20109 ha108 ha117 ha
201124 ha63 ha88 ha
201232 ha58 ha90 ha
201315 ha43 ha58 ha
201419 ha69 ha88 ha
201512 ha17 ha29 ha
201620 ha33 ha53 ha
201711 ha38 ha49 ha
20188 ha19 ha27 ha
20199 ha11 ha20 ha
20208 ha4 ha12 ha
202111 ha63 ha74 ha
202223 ha109 ha132 ha
202324 ha89 ha113 ha
20249 ha9 ha18 ha
202517 ha86 ha103 ha

What is causing deforestation around Sydney?

  • Loggingcan grow back73% · 1,470 ha
  • Towns and roadscleared for good22% · 438 ha
  • Mining and energycleared for good3.5% · 70 ha

Also: storms, floods and other natural causes, farms, pasture and plantations, unknown causes.

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
16,300 ha
Forest in 2020
16,600 ha
Overall change
+222 hamore forest than in 2000

Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Sydney stayed about the same size, at about 16,600 hectares: new forest grew on about 1,310 hectares, and about 1,080 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 Sydney

Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.

  • Halifax

    Canada

    312.7 km
    Tree cover
    37%
    Air quality
    29
  • Saint-Pierre

    Saint Pierre and Miquelon

    315.1 km
    Tree cover
    24%
    Air quality
    22
  • St. John's

    Canada

    589.9 km
    Tree cover
    47%
    Air quality
    14
  • Québec

    Canada

    847.4 km
    Tree cover
    22%
    Air quality
    16
  • Saguenay

    Canada

    858.4 km
    Tree cover
    40%
    Air quality
    19
  • Sherbrooke

    Canada

    911.6 km
    Tree cover
    40%
    Air quality
    17

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Sydney air quality (AQI) and tree cover — measured by Airleaf
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Frequently asked

Questions about Sydney

What is the air quality (AQI) in Sydney right now?

The latest reading for Sydney shows an AQI of 20 (Good), measured Nov 11, 11:00 local time by the SYDNEY ground monitoring station, 1.1 km away, via OpenAQ. The main pollutant is Ozone. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

Is it safe to exercise outside in Sydney today?

At AQI 20 (Good): a good day to be active outside. Windows: open them to air the house. Masks: not needed. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.

What has the air quality in Sydney been like this week?

Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Sydney's daily AQI at 28 on average, from 15 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 53 on Nov 5. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Is Sydney's AQI the same as Canada's AQHI?

No. Airleaf shows the US EPA Air Quality Index (AQI), the scale used by IQAir and most air-quality apps. Canada's Air Quality Health Index (AQHI), from Environment and Climate Change Canada, runs from 1 to 10 and above: 1–3 low risk, 4–6 moderate, 7–10 high and over 10 very high. It combines ozone, nitrogen dioxide and fine particles into one health-risk number, so it isn't a converted AQI, and the two can move differently, especially in wildfire smoke.

How much forest has the area around Sydney lost since 2001?

Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Sydney has lost about 2,020 hectares of forest (about 2,800 football pitches): 9.6% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it was lost to logging, so much of it can grow back. About 508 hectares (25%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns. Forest loss is speeding up: about 88 hectares a year in 2021–2025, up from 32 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Sydney stayed about the same size, at about 16,600 hectares: new forest grew on about 1,310 hectares, and about 1,080 hectares were lost.

What is the tree count in Sydney?

Sydney has an estimated 88,668 trees across the 11.09 km² of land measured — 32.0% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.

How many more trees does Sydney need?

Sydney has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.

How are Sydney's air quality and tree cover measured?

Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Sydney, 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 Sydney; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.

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