Air quality

Air quality in Sharjah today

Updated

Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (US AQI 120) People with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens should cut back on prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors. Model estimate for Mon, Oct 26, 5:00 am (01:00 UTC).

Live AQI, PM2.5, PM10 and ozone for Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, with a 48-hour forecast and the best time to be outside.

US AQI now
120 Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups
PM2.5
38 µg/m³ 2.5× WHO 24-h guideline
PM10
52 µg/m³
Ozone
5 µg/m³
Dominant pollutant
PM2.5 sub-index 120
Best hour today
6:00 am AQI 120
European AQI
53

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Air quality in Sharjah right now

Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Sharjah, United Arab Emirates is 120, which falls in the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" band (up to 150). People with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens should cut back on prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.

The index is driven mainly by PM2.5, whose own sub-index is 120. Fine and coarse particles come from traffic, heating, industry, dust and smoke; they build up on calm nights and clear when wind or rain arrives.

PM2.5 is 38 µg/m³, 2.5 times the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 52 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 5 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 46 µg/m³ (above the 24-hour guideline of 25).

Also this hour: carbon monoxide 327 µg/m³.

Sharjah AQI forecast: next 48 hours

Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 120 around Mon 5:00 am to 146 around Tue 5:00 am, staying "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" throughout.

The following day is expected to be worse, averaging about 147 against 132 for the next 24 hours.

Local time (Asia/Dubai)US AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³PM10 µg/m³Ozone µg/m³
Mon 5:00 am120Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups37.8525
Mon 8:00 am122Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups50.86323
Mon 11:00 am127Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups40.27972
Mon 2:00 pm130Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups43.410898
Mon 5:00 pm133Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups52.317266
Mon 8:00 pm135Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups63.1866
Mon 11:00 pm137Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups74935
Tue 2:00 am141Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups64.5756
Tue 5:00 am146Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups49.8605
Tue 8:00 am149Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups61.27226
Tue 11:00 am150Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups388288
Tue 2:00 pm150Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups4291118
Tue 5:00 pm150Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups449686
Tue 8:00 pm147Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups58.89029
Tue 11:00 pm145Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups60.87920
Wed 2:00 am141Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups66.48117
Wed 5:00 am143Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups63.37512

Every third hour of the CAMS forecast via Open-Meteo. US AQI uses rolling averages (24 h for particles, 8 h for ozone), so it moves more slowly than the hourly concentrations.

Best time to be outside in Sharjah today

Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air today is forecast around 6:00 am (AQI 120, Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups) and the worst around 8:00 pm (AQI 135). That is a swing of 15 points, so a run or walk around 6:00 am is noticeably better.

Sharjah vs the rest of United Arab Emirates

Across 9 United Arab Emirates cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 106 (Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups). Sharjah at 120 is 14 points worse than average.

It ranks 7 of 9 from cleanest to most polluted; the cleanest is Abu Dhabi (86) and the most polluted Ajman (130).

For context, the median across 3,556 cities worldwide is 58.

Air quality in cities near Sharjah

CityDistanceUS AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³
Ajman10 km130Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups62.6
Warīsān19 km121Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups44
Dubai30 km112Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups58.9
Jebel Ali48 km112Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups58.9
Ras Al Khaimah73 km92Moderate29.5
Fujairah97 km94Moderate43.9
Al Ain City132 km87Moderate41
Abu Dhabi142 km86Moderate35.4

Model vs measured

We found no measured PM2.5 sensor cell within 25 km of Sharjah, so the numbers on this page are model estimates. Models capture regional pollution well but can miss very local sources such as a busy road or a nearby fire.

Wildfire smoke

PM2.5 is forecast to reach 74 µg/m³ in the next 24 hours while NASA satellites detected 86 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 44 km away). Smoke is a likely contributor: keep windows closed, run an air purifier or HVAC filter, and check the fire map before heading out.

Advice for sensitive groups

At 120, children, older adults, pregnant people and anyone with asthma, COPD or heart disease should limit time outdoors, especially strenuous activity. A well-fitted N95/FFP2 mask cuts particle exposure; it does not filter ozone.

What the US AQI numbers mean

US AQICategoryWhat it means
0-50GoodAir quality is satisfactory and poses little or no risk; a good time for outdoor activity.
51-100ModerateAcceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors.
101-150Unhealthy for Sensitive GroupsPeople with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens should cut back on prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.
151-200UnhealthyEveryone should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors; sensitive groups should avoid it and keep windows closed.
201-300Very UnhealthyHealth alert: everyone should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors, and sensitive groups should stay indoors.
301-500HazardousEmergency conditions: everyone should avoid all outdoor physical activity and stay indoors with filtered air if possible. The scale tops out at 500; heavier dust or smoke is shown as 500.

Values on this page are modelled by CAMS (Copernicus) and served by Open-Meteo; they are estimates for the area around the city centre, not readings from an official monitor.

Nearby cities

More for Sharjah

Air quality elsewhere

Data: Open-Meteo Air Quality API, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), NASA FIRMS.