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City report · Perak, Malaysia

Taiping Air quality today

Air quality in Taiping currently reads AQI 24 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

Air quality right now

AQI 24

Good

Main pollutant: PM2.5
PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
4.3
tree cover
30.5%
trees in this area
95.4K
more trees needed
0

Measured across a 2 km radius around Taiping, Perak, Malaysia (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of May 22, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.

Taiping · AQI 24 (Good)

Dark green marks tree cover detected inside the study radius.Sentinel-2 L2A (ESA Copernicus) via Earth Search, captured May 22, 2026

Taiping's tree count comes to 95,435 trees across 12.52 km² of land, already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.

Air quality detail

Air quality in Taiping today: AQI 24, Good

Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 23:00 local time via World Air Quality Index Project ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.

Ground station · Kg. Air Putih, Taiping, Perak, Malaysia, 8.1 km away

Health signal

Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

PM2.5

4.3

PM10

8.6

NO₂

—

O₃

—

SO₂

—

CO

—

Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Malaysia Department of Environment (DOE); Air Polluant Index Management System

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 Taiping's daily AQI at 55 on average, from 44 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 83 on Nov 7.

Last 7 days · model estimateavg 55 · peak 83
Nov 4: AQI 57 (peak 69)Nov 5: AQI 44 (peak 57)Nov 6: AQI 58 (peak 79)Nov 7: AQI 53 (peak 83)Nov 8: AQI 48 (peak 67)Nov 9: AQI 58 (peak 70)Nov 10: AQI 64 (peak 75)
Nov 4Nov 10

This is the US EPA AQI. How it differs from Malaysia's API (IPU) · The full guide

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

Tree cover detail

Tree cover in Taiping: Healthy tree cover

30.5% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.52 km² of land.

Target reached

Trees in this area

95,435

Target trees

95,435

More trees needed

0

CO₂ if planted / yr

0 kg

Deforestation · 2001–2025

How much forest has Taiping lost?

Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Taiping has lost about 5,030 hectares of forest (about 7,000 football pitches): 22% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (96%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.

Satellite image of the area around Taiping, March 2017

2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km southwest of the city center.

Forest lost since 2001
5,030 haabout 7,000 football pitches
Share of its forest
22%of what there was in 2000
Cleared for good
4,820 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns

Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 190 hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 248 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2009, when about 366 hectares of forest were lost.

Forest lost each year around Taiping, 2001–2025

Hectares of forest lost each year

Forest lost each year around Taiping, 2001–2025. Use the left and right arrow keys to read each year.366

Show the figures as a table
Forest lost each year around Taiping, 2001–2025
YearCleared for goodCan grow backTotal
200166 ha4 ha69 ha
2002215 ha2 ha217 ha
2003105 haunder 1 ha105 ha
200492 ha4 ha97 ha
2005194 ha4 ha198 ha
2006111 ha4 ha115 ha
2007104 ha4 ha108 ha
2008126 ha6 ha132 ha
2009362 ha4 ha366 ha
2010311 ha5 ha316 ha
2011260 ha7 ha267 ha
2012282 ha5 ha287 ha
2013167 haunder 1 ha167 ha
2014280 ha5 ha285 ha
2015111 ha2 ha113 ha
2016215 ha5 ha220 ha
2017206 ha33 ha239 ha
2018265 ha26 ha291 ha
2019238 ha13 ha251 ha
2020222 ha17 ha239 ha
2021225 ha32 ha257 ha
2022145 ha11 ha156 ha
2023177 ha6 ha183 ha
2024130 ha4 ha134 ha
2025213 ha6 ha219 ha

What is causing deforestation around Taiping?

  • Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good81% · 4,060 ha
  • Towns and roadscleared for good15% · 759 ha
  • Shifting farmingcan grow back3.7% · 187 ha

Also: logging, 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.

Forest gained and lost, 2000–2020

Forest in 2000
25,900 ha
Forest in 2020
25,800 ha
Overall change
−143 haless forest than in 2000

Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Taiping stayed about the same size, at about 25,800 hectares: new forest grew on about 1,180 hectares, and about 1,330 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 Taiping

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

  • Ipoh

    Malaysia

    48.7 km
    Tree cover
    22%
    Air quality
    73
  • Bercham

    Malaysia

    50.6 km
    Tree cover
    23%
    Air quality
    89
  • Kulim

    Malaysia

    60.3 km
    Tree cover
    57%
    Air quality
    20
  • Bukit Mertajam

    Malaysia

    64.2 km
    Tree cover
    42%
    Air quality
    56
  • Sitiawan

    Malaysia

    70.5 km
    Tree cover
    45%
    Air quality
    70
  • Bayan Lepas

    Malaysia

    72.4 km
    Tree cover
    44%
    Air quality
    48

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

Questions about Taiping

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

The latest reading for Taiping shows an AQI of 24 (Good), measured Nov 11, 23:00 local time by the Kg. Air Putih, Taiping, Perak, Malaysia ground monitoring station, 8.1 km away, via OpenAQ. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

Is it safe to exercise outside in Taiping today?

At AQI 24 (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 Taiping been like this week?

Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Taiping's daily AQI at 55 on average, from 44 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 83 on Nov 7. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Is Taiping's AQI the same as Malaysia's API (IPU)?

No. Airleaf shows the US EPA Air Quality Index (AQI), the scale used by IQAir and most air-quality apps. Malaysia's Department of Environment (Jabatan Alam Sekitar) publishes its own Air Pollutant Index, the API or Indeks Pencemar Udara (IPU), every hour for each of its monitoring stations on APIMS (apims.doe.gov.my). Both scales call 0–50 good and 51–100 moderate; above that the IPU runs 101–200 unhealthy, 201–300 very unhealthy and over 300 hazardous. The two use different breakpoints and averaging times, so the numbers for the same hour often differ. For the official IPU reading, check the nearest station on APIMS.

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

Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Taiping has lost about 5,030 hectares of forest (about 7,000 football pitches): 22% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (96%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 190 hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 248 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Taiping stayed about the same size, at about 25,800 hectares: new forest grew on about 1,180 hectares, and about 1,330 hectares were lost.

What is the tree count in Taiping?

Taiping has an estimated 95,435 trees across the 12.52 km² of land measured — 30.5% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.

How many more trees does Taiping need?

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

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

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

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