City report · Gauteng, South Africa
Thembisa Air quality today
Air quality in Thembisa currently reads AQI 59 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
AQI 59
Air quality right now
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 13.4
- tree cover
- 2.3%
- trees in this area
- 7.2K
- more trees needed
- 87.0K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Tlamatlama, Thembisa, 1632, South Africa (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 22, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Thembisa · AQI 59 (Moderate)
Thembisa's tree count comes to 7,226 trees across 12.57 km², 28 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 87,022 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Thembisa today: AQI 59, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 19:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · QA_Irene, 9.6 km away · median of 5 stations
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
13.4
PM10
13.1
NO₂
16.2
O₃
49.9
SO₂
13.6
CO
0.0
Data: OpenAQ · South Africa, South African Air Quality Information System (SAAQIS)
- Outdoor exercise
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier
- Windows
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution
- Mask
- Not needed for most people
- Air purifier
- Worth running if you are sensitive
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Thembisa's daily AQI at 63 on average, from 45 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 152 on Nov 4.
Where Thembisa stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Thembisa: Critically low
2.3% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
7,226
Target trees
94,248
More trees needed
87,022
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,914 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Thembisa lost?
There was very little forest around Thembisa in 2000, about 76 hectares, and about 32 hectares of it has been lost since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here.
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
The worst year was 2007, when about 9 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2002 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | 4 ha | 4 ha |
| 2004 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2005 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2006 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2007 | 9 ha | under 1 ha | 9 ha |
| 2008 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2009 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2010 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2011 | under 1 ha | 2 ha | 2 ha |
| 2012 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2013 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2014 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2015 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2016 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2017 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2018 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2019 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 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 Thembisa?
- Towns and roadscleared for good62% · 20 ha
- Loggingcan grow back27% · 9 ha
- Mining and energycleared for good5.3% · 2 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
- 1,330 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 1,440 ha
- Overall change
- +101 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Thembisa grew from about 1,330 hectares to 1,440 hectares, a net gain of about 101 hectares (+7.6%). New forest grew on about 198 hectares, while 97 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 Thembisa
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Centurion15.8 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 21%
- Air quality
- 58
- Benoni23.3 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 13%
- Air quality
- 81
- Randburg25.0 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 37%
- Air quality
- 44
- Germiston25.1 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 13%
- Air quality
- 44
- Etwatwa26.9 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 2%
- Air quality
- 53
- Pretoria28.2 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 15%
- Air quality
- 75
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Frequently asked
Questions about Thembisa
What is the air quality (AQI) in Thembisa right now?
The latest reading for Thembisa shows an AQI of 59 (Moderate), measured Nov 11, 19:00 local time by 5 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is QA_Irene, 9.6 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Thembisa today?
At AQI 59 (Moderate): fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier. Windows: fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution. Masks: not needed for most people. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Thembisa been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Thembisa's daily AQI at 63 on average, from 45 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 152 on Nov 4. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Thembisa lost since 2001?
There was very little forest around Thembisa in 2000, about 76 hectares, and about 32 hectares of it has been lost since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Thembisa grew from about 1,330 hectares to 1,440 hectares, a net gain of about 101 hectares (+7.6%). New forest grew on about 198 hectares, while 97 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Thembisa?
Thembisa has an estimated 7,226 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 2.3% tree cover, 28 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Thembisa need?
Thembisa needs roughly 87,022 more trees to close a 28-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 1,914 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Thembisa's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Tlamatlama, 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 Tlamatlama; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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