City report · South Sudan
Wau Air quality today
Air quality in Wau currently reads AQI 63 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
AQI 63
Air quality right now
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 17.4
- tree cover
- 22.5%
- trees in this area
- 70.5K
- more trees needed
- 23.5K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Wau, South Sudan (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 3, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Wau · AQI 63 (Moderate)
Wau's tree count comes to 70,544 trees across 12.54 km² of land, 7 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 23,515 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Wau today: AQI 63, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 08:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Model estimate · no ground station nearby
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
17.4
PM10
44.7
NO₂
1.7
O₃
60.0
SO₂
0.4
CO
132.0
- 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 Wau's daily AQI at 85 on average, from 66 on Nov 11 to an hourly peak of 121 on Nov 7.
Where Wau stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Wau: Below target
22.5% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.54 km² of land.
Trees in this area
70,544
Target trees
94,059
More trees needed
23,515
CO₂ if planted / yr
517.3 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Wau lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Wau has lost about 78 hectares of forest (about 110 football pitches): 19% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (99%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 78 haabout 110 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 19%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 77 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2012, when about 30 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 | 9 ha | under 1 ha | 9 ha |
| 2002 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2004 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2005 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2006 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2007 | 9 ha | under 1 ha | 9 ha |
| 2008 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2009 | 7 ha | under 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2010 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2011 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2012 | 30 ha | under 1 ha | 30 ha |
| 2013 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 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 Wau?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good96% · 75 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good3.1% · 2 ha
Also: shifting farming, 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
- 9,950 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 7,290 ha
- Overall change
- −2,660 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Wau shrank from about 9,950 hectares to 7,290 hectares, a net loss of about 2,660 hectares (−27%). New forest grew on about 23 hectares, but 2,690 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 Wau
What is the air quality (AQI) in Wau right now?
The latest reading for Wau shows an AQI of 63 (Moderate), observed Nov 11, 08:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Wau today?
At AQI 63 (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 Wau been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Wau's daily AQI at 85 on average, from 66 on Nov 11 to an hourly peak of 121 on Nov 7. On 1 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Wau lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Wau has lost about 78 hectares of forest (about 110 football pitches): 19% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (99%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Wau shrank from about 9,950 hectares to 7,290 hectares, a net loss of about 2,660 hectares (−27%). New forest grew on about 23 hectares, but 2,690 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Wau?
Wau has an estimated 70,544 trees across the 12.54 km² of land measured — 22.5% tree cover, 7 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Wau need?
Wau needs roughly 23,515 more trees to close a 7-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 517.3 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Wau's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality comes from ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ where one reports nearby, and otherwise, as here, from the Open-Meteo / CAMS model, which may differ from street-level monitors. 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 Wau; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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