Air quality comparison · Argentina, 627 km apart
Mar del Plata vs Rosario Air quality index (AQI) today
Mar del Plata has cleaner air than Rosario right now: AQI 17 (Good) against 27 (Good).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Mar del Plata averaged AQI 31 against 35, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Mar del Plata has lost more forest since 2001. Rosario has more tree cover.
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
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.
Mar del Plata17Rosario27
Head to head
Mar del Plata vs Rosario at a glance
Mar del Plata and Rosario are level, each ahead on 3 of 6 measures. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Mar del Plata | Rosario | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 17 (better) | 27 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 3 (better) | 4.9 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 31 (better) | 35 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 62 ha | 10 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 11.5% | 18.2% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 52.1K | 28.9K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Mar del Plata and Rosario right now?
Mar del Plata has cleaner air than Rosario right now: AQI 17 (Good) against 27 (Good). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
Mar del PlataRosario
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).
Mar del Plata: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
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?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Mar del Plata averaged AQI 31 against 35, 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
- Mar del Plata6Rosario1
- Average AQI
- Mar del Plata31Rosario35
- Worst day, AQI
- Mar del Plata46Rosario54
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Mar del Plata | Rosario |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 27 | 37 |
| Nov 5 | 31 | 38 |
| Nov 6 | 34 | 37 |
| Nov 7 | 46 | 26 |
| Nov 8 | 37 | 54 |
| Nov 9 | 27 | 35 |
| Nov 10 | 17 | 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 Mar del Plata 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 Mar del Plata and Rosario compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Mar del Plata's air is cleaner than 91% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Rosario's is cleaner than 82%. Within Argentina, that is 47% and 31% of its 37 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Mar del Plata
- Beats 91%
- Rosario
- Beats 82%
More tree cover than…
- Mar del Plata
- Beats 25%
- 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, Mar del Plata or Rosario?
Mar del Plata has lost more: about 62 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 10 ha around Rosario. 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: 2025, with 14 ha lost.
Worst year: 2017, with 3 ha lost.
| Mar del Plata | Rosario | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 62 ha | 10 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 8% | 1.3% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 47 ha | 2 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Farms, pasture and plantations (50%) | 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.
Mar del Plata
2017: satellite photo from January 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, Mar del Plata or Rosario?
Rosario has more tree cover: 18.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 11.5% around Mar del Plata, or about 44,598 trees against 32,407.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Mar del Plata | Rosario | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 32.4K | 44.6K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 52.1K | 28.9K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 713K 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
Mar del Plata vs Rosario: your questions answered
Is Mar del Plata cleaner than Rosario?
On air quality, yes, right now: Mar del Plata reads AQI 17 against 27, a gap of 10 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Mar del Plata averaged AQI 31 against 35, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Mar del Plata and Rosario today?
The advice is the same for both today. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. Mar del Plata reads AQI 17 and Rosario reads AQI 27.
Which has lost more forest, Mar del Plata or Rosario?
Mar del Plata has lost more: about 62 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 10 ha around Rosario. 47 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Mar del Plata or Rosario?
Rosario has more tree cover: 18.2% of the land within 2 km of its center against 11.5% around Mar del Plata, or about 44,598 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 Mar del Plata and Rosario need?
Mar del Plata needs about 52,133 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 Mar del Plata 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. Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Mar del Plata 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 15, 2026 and Mar 11, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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