City report · Hubei, China
Zhicheng Air quality today
Air quality in Zhicheng currently reads AQI 103 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Air quality right now
AQI 103
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 34.1
- tree cover
- 28.3%
- trees in this area
- 59.3K
- more trees needed
- 14.0K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Yidu, Yichang, Hubei, China (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 13, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Zhicheng · AQI 103 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups)
Zhicheng's tree count comes to 59,301 trees across 8.38 km² of land, 7 points below the 35% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 14,039 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Zhicheng today: AQI 103, Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 15:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 5 ground-station cities within 165 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 5 station cities within 165 km, e.g. Yichang and Jingzhou
Health signal
Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
PM2.5
34.1
PM10
42.3
NO₂
11.5
O₃
73.0
SO₂
13.5
CO
392.0
- 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 Zhicheng's daily AQI at 104 on average, from 77 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 159 on Nov 5.
Where Zhicheng stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Zhicheng: Below target
28.3% tree cover against a 35% healthy-neighborhood target, across 8.38 km² of land.
Trees in this area
59,301
Target trees
73,340
More trees needed
14,039
CO₂ if planted / yr
308.9 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Zhicheng lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Zhicheng has lost about 520 hectares of forest (about 730 football pitches): 12% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (81%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for mining and energy.
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km southwest of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 520 haabout 730 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 12%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 423 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Forest loss is speeding up: about 53 hectares a year in 2021–2025, up from 25 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2024, when about 79 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 | 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 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2008 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2009 | 13 ha | 12 ha | 25 ha |
| 2010 | 7 ha | 2 ha | 9 ha |
| 2011 | 20 ha | 2 ha | 22 ha |
| 2012 | 31 ha | under 1 ha | 31 ha |
| 2013 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2014 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2015 | 18 ha | under 1 ha | 18 ha |
| 2016 | 10 ha | under 1 ha | 11 ha |
| 2017 | 11 ha | 3 ha | 14 ha |
| 2018 | 7 ha | 2 ha | 9 ha |
| 2019 | 19 ha | 3 ha | 21 ha |
| 2020 | 68 ha | 4 ha | 72 ha |
| 2021 | 17 ha | 4 ha | 21 ha |
| 2022 | 29 ha | 20 ha | 49 ha |
| 2023 | 31 ha | 12 ha | 43 ha |
| 2024 | 72 ha | 7 ha | 79 ha |
| 2025 | 50 ha | 24 ha | 74 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Zhicheng?
- Mining and energycleared for good45% · 233 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good34% · 175 ha
- Loggingcan grow back17% · 90 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
- 11,400 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 11,400 ha
- Overall change
- +22 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Zhicheng stayed about the same size, at about 11,400 hectares: new forest grew on about 604 hectares, and about 582 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 Zhicheng
What is the air quality (AQI) in Zhicheng right now?
The latest reading for Zhicheng shows an AQI of 103 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups), observed Nov 11, 15:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 5 ground-station cities within 165 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Zhicheng today?
At AQI 103 (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 Zhicheng been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Zhicheng's daily AQI at 104 on average, from 77 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 159 on Nov 5. On 4 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Zhicheng lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Zhicheng has lost about 520 hectares of forest (about 730 football pitches): 12% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (81%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for mining and energy. Forest loss is speeding up: about 53 hectares a year in 2021–2025, up from 25 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Zhicheng stayed about the same size, at about 11,400 hectares: new forest grew on about 604 hectares, and about 582 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Zhicheng?
Zhicheng has an estimated 59,301 trees across the 8.38 km² of land measured — 28.3% tree cover, 7 percentage points short of the 35% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Zhicheng need?
Zhicheng needs roughly 14,039 more trees to close a 7-point shortfall against its 35% tree-cover target — about 308.9 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Zhicheng'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 Yidu; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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