City report · Gauteng, South Africa
Westonaria Air quality today
Air quality in Westonaria currently reads AQI 42 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 42
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 4.9
- tree cover
- 9.4%
- trees in this area
- 29.5K
- more trees needed
- 64.7K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Westonaria, 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.
Westonaria · AQI 42 (Good)
Westonaria's tree count comes to 29,531 trees across 12.57 km², 21 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 64,717 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Westonaria today: AQI 42, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 10:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 10 ground-station cities within 65 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 10 station cities within 65 km, e.g. Soweto and Roodepoort
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
4.9
PM10
15.4
NO₂
7.2
O₃
153.0
SO₂
35.5
CO
245.0
- 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 Westonaria's daily AQI at 74 on average, from 45 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 163 on Nov 11.
Where Westonaria stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Westonaria: Critically low
9.4% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
29,531
Target trees
94,248
More trees needed
64,717
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,424 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Westonaria lost?
There was very little forest around Westonaria in 2000, about 19 hectares, and about 5 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 2001, when about 2 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 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2002 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2005 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2006 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2007 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 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 Westonaria?
- Loggingcan grow back46% · 2 ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good35% · 2 ha
- Mining and energycleared for good5.8% · under 1 ha
Also: 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
- 105 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 110 ha
- Overall change
- +5 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Westonaria stayed about the same size, at about 110 hectares: new forest grew on about 14 hectares, and about 9 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 Westonaria
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Randfontein15.9 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 14%
- Air quality
- 47
- Soweto21.7 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 6%
- Air quality
- 37
- Carletonville25.4 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 23%
- Air quality
- 31
- Roodepoort28.3 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 21%
- Air quality
- 37
- Krugersdorp28.9 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 26%
- Air quality
- 37
- Evaton31.1 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 3%
- Air quality
- 133
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Frequently asked
Questions about Westonaria
What is the air quality (AQI) in Westonaria right now?
The latest reading for Westonaria shows an AQI of 42 (Good), observed Nov 11, 10:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 10 ground-station cities within 65 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Westonaria today?
At AQI 42 (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 Westonaria been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Westonaria's daily AQI at 74 on average, from 45 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 163 on Nov 11. On 1 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Westonaria lost since 2001?
There was very little forest around Westonaria in 2000, about 19 hectares, and about 5 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 Westonaria stayed about the same size, at about 110 hectares: new forest grew on about 14 hectares, and about 9 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Westonaria?
Westonaria has an estimated 29,531 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 9.4% tree cover, 21 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Westonaria need?
Westonaria needs roughly 64,717 more trees to close a 21-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 1,424 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Westonaria'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 Westonaria; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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