City report · Kaduna State, Nigeria
Zaria Air quality today
Air quality in Zaria currently reads AQI 172 (Unhealthy): Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
AQI 172
Air quality right now
Unhealthy
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 89.2
- tree cover
- 13.8%
- trees in this area
- 43.4K
- more trees needed
- 82.3K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Zaria, Kaduna, Nigeria (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Oct 30, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Zaria · AQI 172 (Unhealthy)
Zaria's tree count comes to 43,354 trees across 12.57 km², 26 points below the 40% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 82,310 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Zaria today: AQI 172, Unhealthy
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 16:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Model estimate · no ground station nearby
Health signal
Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
PM2.5
89.2
PM10
624.0
NO₂
3.1
O₃
84.0
SO₂
1.0
CO
299.0
- Outdoor exercise
- Everyone should cut down long or hard exercise; sensitive groups should avoid it
- Windows
- Keep them closed
- Mask
- Wear an N95 outdoors
- Air purifier
- Run one
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Zaria's daily AQI at 183 on average, from 151 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 269 on Nov 5.
Where Zaria stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Zaria: Critically low
13.8% tree cover against a 40% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
43,354
Target trees
125,664
More trees needed
82,310
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,811 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Zaria lost?
There was almost no forest around Zaria in 2000, so there has been almost nothing to lose 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 February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Forest gained and lost, 2000–2020
- Forest in 2000
- 231 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 285 ha
- Overall change
- +54 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Zaria grew from about 231 hectares to 285 hectares, a net gain of about 54 hectares (+23%). New forest grew on about 58 hectares, while 3 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 Zaria
What is the air quality (AQI) in Zaria right now?
The latest reading for Zaria shows an AQI of 172 (Unhealthy), observed Nov 10, 16:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Zaria today?
At AQI 172 (Unhealthy): everyone should cut down long or hard exercise; sensitive groups should avoid it. Windows: keep them closed. Masks: wear an N95 outdoors. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Zaria been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Zaria's daily AQI at 183 on average, from 151 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 269 on Nov 5. On 7 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Zaria lost since 2001?
There was almost no forest around Zaria in 2000, so there has been almost nothing to lose 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 Zaria grew from about 231 hectares to 285 hectares, a net gain of about 54 hectares (+23%). New forest grew on about 58 hectares, while 3 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Zaria?
Zaria has an estimated 43,354 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 13.8% tree cover, 26 percentage points short of the 40% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Zaria need?
Zaria needs roughly 82,310 more trees to close a 26-point shortfall against its 40% tree-cover target — about 1,811 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Zaria'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 Zaria; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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