City report · Guangdong, China
Zhongshan Air quality today
Air quality in Zhongshan currently reads AQI 102 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
AQI 102
Air quality right now
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 35.9
- tree cover
- 26.7%
- trees in this area
- 83.2K
- more trees needed
- 25.9K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Zhongshan, Guangdong Province, China (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Jul 12, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Zhongshan · AQI 102 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups)
Zhongshan's tree count comes to 83,209 trees across 12.47 km² of land, 8 points below the 35% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 25,867 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Zhongshan today: AQI 102, Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 12, 00:00 local time via World Air Quality Index Project ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Huabai Park, Zhongshan (中山华柏园), 1.1 km away · median of 3 stations
Health signal
Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
PM2.5
35.9
PM10
67.1
NO₂
—
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Guangdong Environmental Protection public network (广东环境保护公众网)
- 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 Zhongshan's daily AQI at 82 on average, from 59 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 170 on Nov 6.
Where Zhongshan stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Zhongshan: Below target
26.7% tree cover against a 35% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.47 km² of land.
Trees in this area
83,209
Target trees
109,076
More trees needed
25,867
CO₂ if planted / yr
569.1 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Zhongshan lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Zhongshan has lost about 235 hectares of forest (about 330 football pitches): 4.9% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (75%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 6 km south of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 235 haabout 330 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 4.9%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 175 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2017, when about 28 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 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2002 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2005 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2006 | 10 ha | under 1 ha | 11 ha |
| 2007 | 24 ha | 3 ha | 27 ha |
| 2008 | 1 ha | 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2009 | 5 ha | 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2010 | 15 ha | under 1 ha | 16 ha |
| 2011 | 18 ha | 1 ha | 19 ha |
| 2012 | 4 ha | 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2013 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2014 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2015 | 1 ha | 7 ha | 8 ha |
| 2016 | 11 ha | 5 ha | 15 ha |
| 2017 | 14 ha | 14 ha | 28 ha |
| 2018 | 18 ha | 9 ha | 26 ha |
| 2019 | 4 ha | 6 ha | 10 ha |
| 2020 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2021 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2022 | 7 ha | 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2023 | 9 ha | under 1 ha | 9 ha |
| 2024 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2025 | 2 ha | 7 ha | 9 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Zhongshan?
- Towns and roadscleared for good75% · 175 ha
- Loggingcan grow back22% · 51 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown3.5% · 8 ha
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
- 7,210 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 7,320 ha
- Overall change
- +106 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Zhongshan stayed about the same size, at about 7,320 hectares: new forest grew on about 422 hectares, and about 316 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 Zhongshan
What is the air quality (AQI) in Zhongshan right now?
The latest reading for Zhongshan shows an AQI of 102 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups), measured Nov 12, 00:00 local time by 3 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Huabai Park, Zhongshan (中山华柏园), 1.1 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Zhongshan today?
At AQI 102 (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 Zhongshan been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Zhongshan's daily AQI at 82 on average, from 59 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 170 on Nov 6. On 1 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Zhongshan lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Zhongshan has lost about 235 hectares of forest (about 330 football pitches): 4.9% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (75%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Zhongshan stayed about the same size, at about 7,320 hectares: new forest grew on about 422 hectares, and about 316 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Zhongshan?
Zhongshan has an estimated 83,209 trees across the 12.47 km² of land measured — 26.7% tree cover, 8 percentage points short of the 35% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Zhongshan need?
Zhongshan needs roughly 25,867 more trees to close a 8-point shortfall against its 35% tree-cover target — about 569.1 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Zhongshan's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Zhongshan, 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 Zhongshan; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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