City report · Shanxi, China
Taiyuan Air quality today
Air quality in Taiyuan currently reads AQI 122 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
AQI 122
Air quality right now
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 44.0
- tree cover
- 6.7%
- trees in this area
- 20.4K
- more trees needed
- 86.0K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Xinghualing District, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 23, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Taiyuan · AQI 122 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups)
Taiyuan's tree count comes to 20,354 trees across 12.16 km² of land, 28 points below the 35% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 85,973 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Taiyuan today: AQI 122, Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 12, 00:00 local time via World Air Quality Index Project ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Taiyuan (太原), 1 km away · median of 3 stations
Health signal
Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
PM2.5
44.0
PM10
95.4
NO₂
—
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Shanxi Province Environmental Monitoring Center (山西省环境监测中心站网站首页)
- Outdoor exercise
- Children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise
- Windows
- Close them to keep the outside air out
- Mask
- Sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors
- Air purifier
- Run one, especially in bedrooms
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Taiyuan's daily AQI at 73 on average, from 47 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 156 on Nov 4.
Where Taiyuan stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Taiyuan: Critically low
6.7% tree cover against a 35% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.16 km² of land.
Trees in this area
20,354
Target trees
106,327
More trees needed
85,973
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,891 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Taiyuan lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Taiyuan has lost about 91 hectares of forest (about 130 football pitches): 19% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (93%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 91 haabout 130 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 19%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 85 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2001, when about 17 hectares of forest were lost.
Hectares of forest lost each year
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Cleared for good | Can grow back | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 15 ha | 3 ha | 17 ha |
| 2002 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2003 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2004 | 15 ha | under 1 ha | 16 ha |
| 2005 | 11 ha | 1 ha | 12 ha |
| 2006 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2007 | 15 ha | under 1 ha | 15 ha |
| 2008 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2009 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2010 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2011 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2012 | 11 ha | under 1 ha | 11 ha |
| 2013 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2014 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2015 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2016 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2017 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2018 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2019 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2020 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2021 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2022 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2023 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2024 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2025 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Taiyuan?
- Towns and roadscleared for good67% · 61 ha
- Mining and energycleared for good26% · 23 ha
- Loggingcan grow back1.3% · 1 ha
Also: 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
- 1,140 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 1,760 ha
- Overall change
- +622 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Taiyuan grew from about 1,140 hectares to 1,760 hectares, a net gain of about 622 hectares (+55%). New forest grew on about 712 hectares, while 90 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
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Frequently asked
Questions about Taiyuan
What is the air quality (AQI) in Taiyuan right now?
The latest reading for Taiyuan shows an AQI of 122 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups), measured Nov 12, 00:00 local time by 3 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Taiyuan (太原), 1 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Taiyuan today?
At AQI 122 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups): children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise. Windows: close them to keep the outside air out. Masks: sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Taiyuan been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Taiyuan's daily AQI at 73 on average, from 47 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 156 on Nov 4. On 1 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Taiyuan lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Taiyuan has lost about 91 hectares of forest (about 130 football pitches): 19% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (93%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Taiyuan grew from about 1,140 hectares to 1,760 hectares, a net gain of about 622 hectares (+55%). New forest grew on about 712 hectares, while 90 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Taiyuan?
Taiyuan has an estimated 20,354 trees across the 12.16 km² of land measured — 6.7% tree cover, 28 percentage points short of the 35% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Taiyuan need?
Taiyuan needs roughly 85,973 more trees to close a 28-point shortfall against its 35% tree-cover target — about 1,891 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Taiyuan's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Xinghualing District, 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 Xinghualing District; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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