Air quality comparison · Argentina, 279 km apart
Buenos Aires vs Rosario Air quality index (AQI) today
Buenos Aires has cleaner air than Rosario right now: AQI 9 (Good) against 27 (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, Rosario averaged AQI 35 against 42, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Buenos Aires has lost more forest since 2001. Rosario 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 27
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 4.9 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 Aires9Rosario27
Head to head
Buenos Aires vs Rosario at a glance
Rosario is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Buenos Aires on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Buenos Aires | Rosario | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 9 (better) | 27 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 1.7 (better) | 4.9 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 42 | 35 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 14 ha | 10 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 13.2% | 18.2% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 50.3K | 28.9K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Buenos Aires and Rosario right now?
Buenos Aires has cleaner air than Rosario right now: AQI 9 (Good) against 27 (Good). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Buenos Aires is read from a nearby ground station and Rosario is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
Buenos AiresRosario
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.
Rosario: 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, Rosario averaged AQI 35 against 42, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 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 Aires1Rosario5
- Average AQI
- Buenos Aires42Rosario35
- Worst day, AQI
- Buenos Aires63Rosario54
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Buenos Aires | Rosario |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 43 | 37 |
| Nov 5 | 36 | 38 |
| Nov 6 | 50 | 37 |
| Nov 7 | 26 | 26 |
| Nov 8 | 63 | 54 |
| Nov 9 | 47 | 35 |
| Nov 10 | 29 | 20 |
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 Rosario 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 Rosario 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 Rosario's is cleaner than 82%. Within Argentina, that is 67% and 31% of its 37 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Buenos Aires
- Beats 96%
- Rosario
- Beats 82%
More tree cover than…
- Buenos Aires
- Beats 30%
- Rosario
- Beats 42%
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 Rosario?
Buenos Aires has lost more: about 14 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 10 ha around Rosario. 13 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: 2017, with 3 ha lost.
| Buenos Aires | Rosario | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 14 ha | 10 ha (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 13 ha | 2 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (96%) | Storms, floods and other natural causes (44%) |
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.
Rosario
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Buenos Aires or Rosario?
Rosario has more tree cover: 18.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 13.2% around Buenos Aires, or about 44,598 trees against 39,520.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Buenos Aires | Rosario | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 39.5K | 44.6K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 50.3K | 28.9K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 869K kg | 981K kg (better) |
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 Rosario: your questions answered
Is Buenos Aires cleaner than Rosario?
On air quality, yes, right now: Buenos Aires reads AQI 9 against 27, a gap of 18 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, Rosario averaged AQI 35 against 42, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Buenos Aires and Rosario today?
The advice is the same for both today. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Buenos Aires reads AQI 9 and Rosario reads AQI 27.
Which has lost more forest, Buenos Aires or Rosario?
Buenos Aires has lost more: about 14 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 10 ha around Rosario. 13 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Buenos Aires or Rosario?
Rosario has more tree cover: 18.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 13.2% around Buenos Aires, or about 44,598 trees against 39,520. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Buenos Aires and Rosario need?
Buenos Aires needs about 50,298 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Rosario about 28,915 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Buenos Aires and Rosario 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 Rosario 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 Rosario 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 11, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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