Air quality comparison · Argentina, 384 km apart
Buenos Aires vs Mar del Plata Air quality index (AQI) today
Buenos Aires has cleaner air than Mar del Plata right now: AQI 9 (Good) against 17 (Good).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Mar del Plata averaged AQI 31 against 42, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Mar del Plata has lost more forest since 2001. Buenos Aires has more tree cover.
Argentina
AQI 9
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 1.7 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 13:00 local
Argentina
AQI 17
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 3 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 10, 15:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Buenos Aires9Mar del Plata17
Head to head
Buenos Aires vs Mar del Plata at a glance
Buenos Aires is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Mar del Plata on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Buenos Aires | Mar del Plata | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 9 (better) | 17 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 1.7 (better) | 3 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 42 | 31 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 14 ha (better) | 62 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 13.2% (better) | 11.5% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 50.3K (better) | 52.1K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata right now?
Buenos Aires has cleaner air than Mar del Plata right now: AQI 9 (Good) against 17 (Good). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Buenos Aires is read from a nearby ground station and Mar del Plata is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
Buenos AiresMar del Plata
Concentrations at the same moment as the index above, for the pollutants both places report. Lower is better. The dark marks on the PM2.5 and PM10 rows show the WHO's 24-hour guidelines (15 and 45 µg/m³).
Buenos Aires: Ground station · Avenida Raul Scalabrini Ortiz 1355, Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 5.1 km away. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Luca.
Mar del Plata: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Mar del Plata averaged AQI 31 against 42, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon; the week says whether it was the weather or the place.
- Cleaner days
- Buenos Aires1Mar del Plata6
- Average AQI
- Buenos Aires42Mar del Plata31
- Worst day, AQI
- Buenos Aires63Mar del Plata46
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Buenos Aires | Mar del Plata |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 43 | 27 |
| Nov 5 | 36 | 31 |
| Nov 6 | 50 | 34 |
| Nov 7 | 26 | 46 |
| Nov 8 | 63 | 37 |
| Nov 9 | 47 | 27 |
| Nov 10 | 29 | 17 |
Daily averages from the CAMS atmospheric model for both places, so the week compares like with like. They can differ from today's reading at the top of the page wherever that comes from a ground station.
What it means today
Is it safe to go outside in Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata today?
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Both are in the same EPA band today (Good), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
A good day to be active outside.
Windows
Open them to air the house.
Masks
Not needed.
Air purifier
Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Buenos Aires's air is cleaner than 96% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Mar del Plata's is cleaner than 91%. Within Argentina, that is 67% and 47% of its 37 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Buenos Aires
- Beats 96%
- Mar del Plata
- Beats 91%
More tree cover than…
- Buenos Aires
- Beats 30%
- Mar del Plata
- Beats 25%
Includes model estimates as well as station readings, so it can differ from our most polluted and cleanest air rankings, which use station readings only.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which has lost more forest, Buenos Aires or Mar del Plata?
Mar del Plata has lost more: about 62 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 14 ha around Buenos Aires. 47 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Measured within 10 km of each center, from the yearly satellite maps of forest loss: a wider circle than the one for tree cover, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
Worst year: 2011, with 5 ha lost.
Worst year: 2025, with 14 ha lost.
| Buenos Aires | Mar del Plata | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 14 ha (better) | 62 ha |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 13 ha (better) | 47 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (96%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (50%) |
Satellite timelapses
Watch both change, year by year
A clear satellite photo a year of the land around each city. Press play, turn on the forest cleared since the first year, or drag the before and after.
Buenos Aires
2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Mar del Plata
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Buenos Aires or Mar del Plata?
Buenos Aires has more tree cover: 13.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 11.5% around Mar del Plata, or about 39,520 trees against 32,407.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Buenos Aires | Mar del Plata | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 39.5K (better) | 32.4K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 50.3K (better) | 52.1K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 869K kg (better) | 713K kg |
Tree cover on the satellite image
The same 2 km radius around each center, with the tree cover the satellite found marked on it.
Reading these numbers
How this comparison is made
Air quality index
The US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations: ground stations where a place has them nearby, and the CAMS atmospheric model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so it is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place. The guideline marks are from the WHO's 2021 air quality guidelines.
Trees and forest
Tree cover is the share of ground under canopy within 2 km of each center, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It measures that circle, not the whole municipality, which is what makes the two comparable. Forest loss comes from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
More on the method on the About Airleaf page.
Frequently asked
Buenos Aires vs Mar del Plata: your questions answered
Is Buenos Aires cleaner than Mar del Plata?
On air quality, yes, right now: Buenos Aires reads AQI 9 against 17, a gap of 8 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. But over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Mar del Plata averaged AQI 31 against 42, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata today?
The advice is the same for both today. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Buenos Aires reads AQI 9 and Mar del Plata reads AQI 17.
Which has lost more forest, Buenos Aires or Mar del Plata?
Mar del Plata has lost more: about 62 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 14 ha around Buenos Aires. 47 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Buenos Aires or Mar del Plata?
Buenos Aires has more tree cover: 13.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 11.5% around Mar del Plata, or about 39,520 trees against 32,407. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata need?
Buenos Aires needs about 50,298 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Mar del Plata about 52,133 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata measured the same way?
The method is the same: the US EPA index for air, and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail over an identical radius for trees. Buenos Aires is read from a nearby ground station and Mar del Plata is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Buenos Aires vs Mar del Plata comparison update?
The air readings refresh about once an hour, and each reading's local time is shown at the top of the page. Tree cover comes from the latest clear satellite image of each area (Mar 8, 2026 and Mar 15, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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