Air quality in Kobe

Air quality index (AQI⁺) and PM2.5 air pollution in Kobe • 66.4K Followers • 01:00, Apr 22 Local time

39

US AQI⁺

Good

face expression based on aqi value

Main pollutant:

PM2.5

7 µg/m³

weather condition icon

14°

wind direction icon

18 km/h

weather humid icon

40 %

Hourly forecast

Kobe air quality index (AQI⁺) forecast

Now

39

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14°

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18

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40%

02:00

41

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14°

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16

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39%

03:00

43

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13°

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15

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38%

04:00

45

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13°

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16

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38%

05:00

47

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13°

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18

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38%

06:00

50

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13°

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19

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38%

07:00

52

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14°

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15

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35%

08:00

53

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16°

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14

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34%

09:00

55

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17°

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13

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33%

10:00

57

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18°

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12

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33%

11:00

59

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19°

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5

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29%

12:00

61

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19°

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3

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28%

13:00

64

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19°

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5

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26%

14:00

65

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19°

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9

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36%

15:00

66

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19°

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8

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43%

16:00

67

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19°

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8

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46%

17:00

69

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19°

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10

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48%

18:00

71

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18°

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11

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52%

19:00

72

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18°

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8

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55%

20:00

73

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18°

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6

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57%

21:00

74

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17°

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10

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63%

22:00

73

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17°

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8

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69%

23:00

73

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17°

IQAir AirVisual Air Quality Map Wind rotating 188 degree

7

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71%

Thu

00:00

73

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17°

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8

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73%

01:00

71

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17°

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7

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72%

02:00

70

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17°

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4

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72%

03:00

69

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16°

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4

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68%

04:00

68

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16°

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10

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58%

05:00

67

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16°

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12

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55%

06:00

66

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16°

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13

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54%

07:00

65

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16°

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14

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53%

08:00

65

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16°

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15

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51%

09:00

65

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16°

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12

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51%

10:00

64

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16°

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14

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50%

11:00

63

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15°

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20

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50%

12:00

62

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90%

14°

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28

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56%

13:00

61

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90%

13°

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33

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70%

14:00

60

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90%

12°

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36

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82%

15:00

60

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90%

12°

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43

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86%

16:00

58

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90%

12°

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42

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85%

17:00

57

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90%

12°

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39

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86%

18:00

56

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12°

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37

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85%

19:00

55

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11°

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26

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84%

20:00

54

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11°

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22

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84%

21:00

54

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12°

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80%

22:00

53

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12°

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23

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77%

23:00

53

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12°

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75%

Fri

00:00

53

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12°

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10

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75%

01:00

53

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12°

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75%

02:00

53

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12°

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21

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71%

03:00

53

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12°

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17

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69%

04:00

54

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12°

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68%

05:00

55

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12°

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67%

06:00

57

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12°

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65%

07:00

58

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13°

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19

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60%

08:00

59

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14°

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17

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56%

09:00

60

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15°

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54%

10:00

60

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16°

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50%

11:00

60

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17°

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49%

12:00

60

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18°

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48%

13:00

60

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19°

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47%

14:00

60

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44%

15:00

60

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19°

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26

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41%

16:00

60

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18°

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23

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43%

17:00

60

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18°

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46%

18:00

61

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17°

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19

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48%

19:00

60

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15°

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50%

20:00

59

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14°

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18

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50%

21:00

58

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14°

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52%

22:00

56

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13°

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53%

23:00

54

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7

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52%

Sat

00:00

52

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13°

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8

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54%

Daily forecast

|

Kobe air quality index (AQI⁺) forecast

Today

46

Weather icon

20°

14°

IQAir AirVisual Air Quality Map Wind rotating 0 degree

29

km/h

Humidity icon

44%

Thu

69

Weather icon

19°

13°

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19

km/h

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43%

Fri

58

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90%

16°

11°

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43

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70%

Air pollutants

What is the current air quality in Kobe?

IQAir exclamation icon

PM2.5 concentration is currently 1.4 times the World Health Organization annual PM2.5 guideline value.

Health recommendations

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Enjoy outdoor activities

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Open your windows to bring clean, fresh air indoors

Get a monitor

Protect yourself from air pollution in Kobe

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Pollen

What is the pollen count in Kobe today?

Index

Pollen global icon

Moderate

Pollen tree icon

Tree

Moderate

50%
Pollen grass icon

Grass

Low

25%
Pollen weed icon

Weed

None

0%

Source:

wetter.com
Pollen forecast in Kobe

Health recommendations

common.healthRecommendationComp.icons.exerciseAlt

Enjoy outdoor activities

common.healthRecommendationComp.icons.windowAlt

Open your windows to bring clean, fresh air indoors

Get a monitor

Pollen

What is the pollen count in Kobe today?

Index

Pollen global icon

Moderate

Pollen tree icon

Tree

Moderate

50%
Pollen grass icon

Grass

Low

25%
Pollen weed icon

Weed

None

0%

Source:

wetter.com
Pollen forecast in Kobe

Protect yourself from air pollution in Kobe

SHOP IQAIR PRODUCTS

Monitor the air you breathe

Get accurate AirVisual air quality readings and real-time insights for cleaner air. Monitors that reveal pollution sources, highlight when air purifier use is needed.

AirVisual Series

Medical grade air purifiers

Trusted worldwide, the HealthPro Series uses HyperHEPA technology. Filters ultrafine particles other air purifiers miss, delivering medical-grade protection.

HealthPro Series

Powerful, stylish air purifiers

Compact and powerful, the Atem Series combines Swiss engineering with high-performance air purification, filtering ultrafine particles with HyperHEPA technology.

Atem Series

Most polluted locations near Kobe

Worldwide AQI⁺ rankingArrow icon

Station ranking

Real-time AQI⁺ station ranking for stations in Kobe

#StationsAQI⁺ US
1
The national flag of Japan

Koubeshishoubokyokusuma Fire Department

50

2
The national flag of Japan

Koyonishi Park

44

3
The national flag of Japan

Construction Bureau West Water Environment Center

39

4
The national flag of Japan

Hyogo South

39

5
The national flag of Japan

Minami Goyo Elementary School

39

6
The national flag of Japan

Kobe Municipal Higashinada Gymnastics

33

7
The national flag of Japan

Higashinada

28

8
The national flag of Japan

Kitagami Hata

28

9
The national flag of Japan

Kobe City Kitagami Hata

28

10
The national flag of Japan

Kobeshi Fire Department Nada Fire Department

28

City ranking

Real-time Japan AQI⁺ city ranking

#CitiesAQI⁺ US
1
The national flag of Japan

Fukuoka, Fukuoka

71

2
The national flag of Japan

Honjo, Saitama

66

3
The national flag of Japan

Tomakomai, Hokkaido

66

4
The national flag of Japan

Iwaki, Fukushima

64

5
The national flag of Japan

Fukuyama, Hiroshima

63

6
The national flag of Japan

Kurashiki, Okayama

62

7
The national flag of Japan

Yokkaichi, Mie

62

8
The national flag of Japan

Yorii, Saitama

62

9
The national flag of Japan

Sendai, Miyagi

61

10
The national flag of Japan

Fukaya, Saitama

60

History

Historic air quality graph for Kobe

39 AQI⁺ US
Good
01:00–02:00 Apr 22 Local time
AQI⁺ US

History

Historic air quality graph for Kobe

39 AQI⁺ US
Good
01:00–02:00 Apr 22 Local time
AQI⁺ US

Most polluted locations near Kobe

Worldwide AQI⁺ rankingArrow icon

Station ranking

Real-time AQI⁺ station ranking for stations in Kobe

#StationsAQI⁺ US
1
The national flag of Japan

Koubeshishoubokyokusuma Fire Department

50

2
The national flag of Japan

Koyonishi Park

44

3
The national flag of Japan

Construction Bureau West Water Environment Center

39

4
The national flag of Japan

Hyogo South

39

5
The national flag of Japan

Minami Goyo Elementary School

39

6
The national flag of Japan

Kobe Municipal Higashinada Gymnastics

33

7
The national flag of Japan

Higashinada

28

8
The national flag of Japan

Kitagami Hata

28

9
The national flag of Japan

Kobe City Kitagami Hata

28

10
The national flag of Japan

Kobeshi Fire Department Nada Fire Department

28

City ranking

Real-time Japan AQI⁺ city ranking

#CitiesAQI⁺ US
1
The national flag of Japan

Fukuoka, Fukuoka

71

2
The national flag of Japan

Honjo, Saitama

66

3
The national flag of Japan

Tomakomai, Hokkaido

66

4
The national flag of Japan

Iwaki, Fukushima

64

5
The national flag of Japan

Fukuyama, Hiroshima

63

6
The national flag of Japan

Kurashiki, Okayama

62

7
The national flag of Japan

Yokkaichi, Mie

62

8
The national flag of Japan

Yorii, Saitama

62

9
The national flag of Japan

Sendai, Miyagi

61

10
The national flag of Japan

Fukaya, Saitama

60

Measure your own air quality

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What is the air quality like in Kobe?

Kobe is a city in Japan, being the capital city of the Hyogo prefecture. It is the 7th largest city in Japan, with some 1.5 million or more inhabitants living within the city’s limits, and over 2.4 million in the metropolitan areas. Kobe was one of the first cities to open its doors to trade with the west after Japan's long period of seclusion, becoming well known as a metropolitan port city, with much of its industry centered around the shipping of goods and international trade, as well as local industries revolving around the production of metals, food products (such as the famous Kobe beef) and electronics.

With all of these activities and large movements of people, there are subsequent rises in pollution levels, as is inevitable in all cities round the world. In 2019 Kobe came in with a PM2.5 reading of 11.4 μg/m³.

This reading placed Kobe into the ‘good’ ratings bracket of air quality, which requires a PM2.5 reading of anywhere between 10 to 12 μg/m³ to be classed as such, a fine margin of entry and only 1.4 units away from being moved down into the World Health Organizations (WHO's) target goal of 10 μg/m³ or less for the best possible quality of air, with the closer to 0 being the most optimal for clean air.

As well as being in the good ratings category for its yearly average, Kobe's reading of 11.4 μg/m³ put it in 256th place out of all cities ranked in Japan over 2019, as well as 2031st place out of all cities ranked in the world. This is a respectable reading and placing, showing that Kobe has a good quality of air, however at the same time there are a few pollutive issues manifest in the city, with certain months having higher readings that could be damaging to the health of certain individuals.

What are the main causes of pollution in Kobe?

With a high volume of people moving around the city, as well as in and out for cross country commutes, subsequently there would be a large amount of pollution coming from the source of vehicles. Although Kobe and many cities throughout Japan have a significant amount of public transport infrastructure and money invested into them, cars and motorbikes and any form of private transport still remains prevalent, causing pollution levels to be far higher year round than they should be.

Other vehicles that contribute would be ones such as ships, prominent in port cities and often containing higher levels of chemicals such as sulfur in their fuel which can cause more sulfur oxides to be released as a result. Heavy duty vehicles are also an issue, with trucks, lorries and buses still in use, sometimes running on diesel fuels that can put out large amounts of pollution associated with the combustion of fossil fuels.

Other prominent sources of pollution in Kobe would be emissions from factories, with vast amounts of production plants and industrial areas being available across the city limits, often running on coal as well as utilizing diesel for the powering of their heavy machinery, not to count the industrial effluence that is released as a byproduct from whatever item is being produced (for example plastic product factories inevitably release some form of plastic fumes into the atmosphere).

When is pollution in Kobe at its worst?

Observing the data taken over the course of 2019, Kobe showed some very significant patterns in its pollution levels, with distinct changes in pollution between the different months of the year. It appears that the beginning portion of the year through to August are when the pollution levels were slightly higher, with the very beginning of the year being the absolute worst.

For some context and numbers, the months of February, March and May all came in with the worst readings of PM2.5, all sitting in the ‘moderate’ ratings bracket, which requires a reading of anywhere between 12.1 to 35.4 μg/m³ to be classed as such. The surrounding months were all in the good bracket, and therefore not of the greatest concern.

The aforementioned worst months of the year all came in with PM2.5 readings of 17.3 μg/m³ in February, 13.5 μg/m³ in March and 14 μg/m³ in May. This displays that the most polluted time of the year was within the first 5 months, with February being the most polluted out of the entire year.

When is Kobe’s air quality at its cleanest?

In contrast to the previous question and answer, the months that came in with the cleanest readings of PM2.5 in 2019 came at the end of the year, whilst the most polluted came at the beginning. Pollution levels remained somewhat stable up until August, which came in with a reading of 11.4 μg/m³.

From here on out, for the next three months the pollution levels dropped significantly, with September through to November all having the cleanest readings of air quality. In terms of numbers, September came in at 9 μg/m³, October at 8.2 μg/m³ and November at 9 μg/m³ once again.

After this clean spell the PM2.5 readings went back up into the ‘good ratings category of 10 μg/m³ or above. With the numbers on record, October was the cleanest month of the year for Kobe, falling within the WHO's target goal with both September and November doing the same.

What are some of the main pollutants found in the air in Kobe?

With a large amount of its pollution emanating from vehicular sources, as well as industrial fumes, Kobe’s polluted air would contain a certain amount of harmful chemical compounds and fine particulate matters.

Some of these would include, as seen mostly released from vehicles, oxides of nitrogen and sulfur, most prominently nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2). Nitrogen dioxide would be the most widespread pollutant, often correlating directly with high levels of traffic, with large concentrations of it on ground level and in the atmosphere over areas that see many cars and other vehicles.

Other pollutants would include carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds (VOC's) such as benzene, toluene and formaldehyde, as well as black carbon and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, all of which are highly detrimental to human health and extremely easy to respire, in particular the VOC's due to them being gaseous at much lower temperatures due to their volatile compositions.