Medical Smoke, air quality, volcanos, fires - BsAs 03Feb2024

[StatusNomadicus]

Haven't seen a peep about the smoky skies of Buenos Aires this week. What gives? Just a bunch of bots posting on this forum now, and not actual Expats in BsAs?

Outside right now in Belgrano, I can't even see the Rio de la Plata like I can normally. My throat feels a little scratchy. Google Maps filters show nothing, AirNow.gov only shows North America, and my 2 closest air quality stations (there are basically none in Argentina, compared to US and EU, by the way, which is weird as f*ck) say the air is 40 and 42 (US AQI numbers). That's considered "Good" and yet outside is absolutely smoky. You can't smell it very strongly, and you might think it's only clouds, but the data on Argentina is pretty wonky. I just went outside and Apple Weather says it's 93F and sunny...it's absolutely not 93 degrees, like like 84, and it's completely smoke clouds in all directions, over all of CABA. So, what gives? Any old-timers @Betsy Ross @earlyretirement want to add some insight?

Are people here just not worried about particulates, lung cancer, staying indoors when there is smoke from volcanoes, wildfires, etc.? With the abundant use of Canola and Sunflower oils (cancerous for cooking), and the lack of butter (margarine/vegetable oils/shortening only at grocery stores), maybe CABA just doesn't know about basic health issues in 2024?

How do I get real info on air quality and smoke? These are common tools in the US/EU.

1. Oct2023 wildfire near Cordoba: https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/10/11/argentina-fires-video-evacuations-climate/
2. Los Alerces park arson (guaranteed to be a Peronist?) in 2024: https://phys.org/news/2024-01-argentina-unesco-arson.html
3. 24Jan2024 bad air quality because of this: https://www.iqair.com/us/newsroom/wildfire-spotlight-las-alerces-national-park
4. Colombia forest fire Feb2024: https://english.elpais.com/climate/...ombia-what-is-happening-in-south-america.html
5. Chile state of emergency for wildfire near Valparaiso 03Feb2024: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/3/chile-declares-state-of-emergency-over-raging-forest-fires

I'd recommend staying inside using an air filter if you can, and not doing exercise outside for sure. Run inside a gym! My lap swimming outdoors will likely be cancelled this weekend :/

A. No warning on this 42 AQI site, either: https://air.plumelabs.com/air-quality-in-Buenos Aires-epPU
B. 2021 air quality of 51:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1390713760596205571

C. 2023 air quality moderate/unhealthy:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1682936717672869888

D. 26Jan2024 just mentions "pollution" for Moderate air quality issues:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1750760483043344894

I can definitely feel it in my throat after being outside for 3 minutes. Kind of like that feeling after you are by a bonfire the night prior. Of course, so many poor people smoke here that they wouldn't notice anything. Is that just it? Everyone smokes so they don't notice or care about respiratory health problems? Really strange the Apple Weather won't give air quality like it does in the USA, and there are so few air quality stations that are reporting false info, and the temperature is always showing hotter than it really is, and Google Maps has no info on wildfires or air quality anywhere near BsAs. And thr last NASA smoke image was from 2008 in Buenos Aires? https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/8687/fires-spread-smoke-over-buenos-aires

So weird. My property manager said sometimes the Andes volcano smoke causes air quality problems, but didn't seem interested or concerned.

 

[ultraviolet]

I have been posting for the past week or so how bad the air quality is here. I posted about how my acne got worse since getting in town. This usually happens to me when it's hot and air quality is bad.

I just use the Weather.com app but it doesn't give a # like some cities. It just rates it as Fair, Good, Poor or Very Poor. Today is Very Poor.

 

[Flamingo]

Air quality is really bad these days. That is also one of my gripes of BA. Most major cities around the world monitor air quality but BA never has good info. We have been lucky so far this summer with milder weather but here the hot weather comes.

 

[StatusNomadicus]

update 8pm BsAs time: 63 AQI and 43 AQI, but about to be really windy soon, so we'll see!

@ultraviolet i remember seeing your post, but there was no visible smoke then, and i didn't feel any symptoms until today. there are a myriad of changes when we travel. do you drink fluoridated water usually? chlorinated water? shower with a water softener? travel without your usual topicals/medications? drink less water, drink more alcohol? eat more salty/fatty/greasy foods? have more sex? walk outside more? used to having A/C all the time? do you avoid seed oils like Canola or Sunflower oil? (because here they cook with really cancerous stuff, like in lower-class restaurants in the USA that don't know about the oxidative properties of processed Seed Oils).

"Sunflower seed intake appears to aggravate acne vulgaris" - so imagine what ingesting ounces and ounces of Sunflower Oil would do in Buenos Aires, where everything like Milanesas are cooked in it! https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4601245/

i have never heard of acne and wildfire smoke/pollution/air quality. do you have a source for that? it's more than likely changes in your clothing, lifestyle, etc. than that, from what i've experienced (i was on Accutane for 18 months as a teenager...i know how shitty it is to deal with skin problems)

Air quality is really bad these days

since when? because of a fire, or just downtown city life?

but BA never has good info

well, if locals would step-up and put up air quality monitors, this would change. but commies never actually want to do anything other than complain, so so surprise that this province has so few air monitors. if anyone gave a crap, they could do a simple project like hosting an air quality monitor, like on this German website: "Do you have a suitable location for an air quality sensor outside of your apartment? Then please click on “Become a sensor host” and leave your contact details." https://www.breeze-technologies.de/solutions/urban-air-quality/become-a-sensor-host/

but of course with 70-100 years of Socialism the government couldn't be bothered to think about air quality. talk about caring for its people, huh? guess it wasn't high on the Kirchners' priorities when they were enriching themselves. but tribalists like you, @Flamingo will continue to support the very government that can't do simple things that volunteers can do around the world. ever think about that, and take a look in the mirror?

We have been lucky so far this summer with milder weather but here the hot weather comes.

more fake news from you, or what? there is one day of 93F scheduled on https://www.accuweather.com/en/ar/buenos-aires/7894/february-weather/7894

who told you there is super-hot weather coming? it's been mild, and it looks like it's going to stay mild. i think i saw 3 days total of near 100F? i have done 2 months of 100-120F days in Phoenix...you guys are spoiled. and then in the winter it only gets down to mid-40s F? ahhahaha, in the Midwest it was just -22F last week! and that's not even that close to Canada where i checked. BsAs has great weather, so where are you seeing this Fear Porn about some stupid-ass Climate Change unusual hot weather, that i'm sure you'll allege next? please share.

 

[GlasgowJohn]

All of a sudden, a pretty strong southernly wind. I know it was forecast but its about two hours behind schedule.

Bye for a bit - excuse me , while I secure the garden furniture.

 

[StatusNomadicus]

a pretty strong southernly wind

no understatement...i thought the medium-sized cactus on our high-up Airbnb balcony was going to go base-jumping

that was the windiest i've seen BsAs in 2 months. i hoped it would push-out the hazy skies, but this morning 04Feb2024 i still can't see the river very well, like i usually can spot it. i'll do some more digging on air quality here, since info is...sparse, like many topics


@ultraviolet i'm caught-up now on your other posts. sucks your skin is treating you poorly! i had bad skin in high school, like i said, and it's always so shitty for guys when it comes to dating. you basically just assume your skin is going to get you rejected, then it becomes self-fulfilling. have you ever read The Game by Neil Strauss? i can find a PDF/ePub version for you online, if you don't know how to pirate stuff. it's the number one book on self-image that i wish all my friends would read.

and re: air quality and skin, i found:

1. thekit.ca said "people prone to acne might notice breakout flare-ups as the pollutants can clog the pores and cause inflammation."
2. do you smoke? smoking causes acne: https://ijdvl.com/effects-of-air-pollution-on-the-skin-a-review/
3. vogue.in says pollutants exacerbate acne.
4. this article says outdoor AND INDOOR pollutants can cause endocrine/hormone disruption for acne: https://www.wellandgood.com/air-quality-and-skin/
5. SanFran one person has a similar situation to yours:

https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/9yelgz

6. Lebanon air pollution linked to acne https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-021-11738-0

i wouldn't wear masks because of the obvious acne problems they cause (and they do nothing against viruses). i also find for me, my overall skin condition improves when i exercise daily (sufficient sweating to purge pores), get 30-45 minutes of tanning time, and drink water rather than soda/energy drinks/sugars.

if you can't find an English-speaker, i can do some rough interpreting for you. i'll be in CABA (Belgrano) until the last week of this month, if i can get out of the city. if i can't because of my dog, i'll be here in March, too.

 

[StatusNomadicus]

resources i HAVE found for air mapping in Buenos Aires:

1. https://www.iqair.com/us/air-quality-map/argentina/buenos-aires

2. https://www.aqi.in/air-quality-map

3. https://www.breezometer.com/air-quality-map/air-quality/argentina/buenos-aires-city

maps show a couple fires nearby, but downwind of the BsAs breeze. so, still unknown why BsAs is so cloaked in haze the past 48 hours, with all this wind still going on. regardless, i'm staying indoors until i know!

 

[StatusNomadicus]

for future reference about summer wildfires, looks like the air path is blowing the east/river/ocean toward BsAs and making it cleaner. still not as clean as last week, but near Santiago Chile is super on-fire and nasty air right now. keep that in mind for comparing Santiago to Buenos Aires; how often are their fires nearby?

screenshot from 08:47 on 05Feb2024 attached. looks like Mar Del Plata and Bahia Blanca have significantly cleaner air than BsAs.

attached "fire" screenshot also. shows a fire northwest of BsAs. not sure how big, and if that's making some air quality changes here in Belgrano. still can't really smell it, but sometimes you get gradually used to it. and some of the visibility could be clouds. but air quality right now in Santiago Chile is 75 AQI to 175! super bad.

looks like Salta, Mendoza, and Cordoba are fairly unaffected.

 

[StatusNomadicus]

update 06Oct2024: from Mendoza, the Andes to the west look a little hazy. air quality shows possible bad air quality (but zero sensors, still, to back that up with quantitative data), and from https://www.iqair.com/air-quality-map you can see the 2 attached screenshots

Idaho/Montana USA, and Bolivia (and Peru/Brazil) are getting wrecked right now by wildfires and smoke :/

here in Mendoza Capital i saw haze in the morning, but didn't feel anything when walking around the big park with my dog. but no, around 14:30, i can feel my throat sort of itchy and my eyes are starting to burn a tiny bit. looks like a lot of the world is having issues right now!

not to mention the Hurricane Helene aftermath that erased entire towns in western NC/Appalachia, and now Hurricane Milton is likely going to hit Tampa FL etc. on Tuesday 08Oct2024!

Hurricane forecast: Milton may bring worst surge in a century to Tampa, southwest Florida

Bottom line is nothing good is going on with Milton today and this could become one of the most devastating one-two statewide punches of all time.

www.tallahassee.com

all this brings-up an interesting topic: for me, part of 'planting a flag' in a place is its distance from natural disasters. on the West side of the USA, forests are constantly on fire. in the Southeast, Hurricanes and flooding. the West coast is going to get demolished when the big earthquake finally hits, one of these decades/centuries. does anyone else focus on mitigating these types of events by trying to establish home bases that have low likelihoods of being subject to mother nature?

 

[Wally]

update 06Oct2024: from Mendoza, the Andes to the west look a little hazy. air quality shows possible bad air quality (but zero sensors, still, to back that up with quantitative data), and from https://www.iqair.com/air-quality-map you can see the 2 attached screenshots

Idaho/Montana USA, and Bolivia (and Peru/Brazil) are getting wrecked right now by wildfires and smoke :/

here in Mendoza Capital i saw haze in the morning, but didn't feel anything when walking around the big park with my dog. but no, around 14:30, i can feel my throat sort of itchy and my eyes are starting to burn a tiny bit. looks like a lot of the world is having issues right now!

not to mention the Hurricane Helene aftermath that erased entire towns in western NC/Appalachia, and now Hurricane Milton is likely going to hit Tampa FL etc. on Tuesday 08Oct2024!

Hurricane forecast: Milton may bring worst surge in a century to Tampa, southwest Florida

Bottom line is nothing good is going on with Milton today and this could become one of the most devastating one-two statewide punches of all time.

www.tallahassee.com

all this brings-up an interesting topic: for me, part of 'planting a flag' in a place is its distance from natural disasters. on the West side of the USA, forests are constantly on fire. in the Southeast, Hurricanes and flooding. the West coast is going to get demolished when the big earthquake finally hits, one of these decades/centuries. does anyone else focus on mitigating these types of events by trying to establish home bases that have low likelihoods of being subject to mother nature?

I was wondering how all those fires in Brazil would affect air quality here. Friends live in Tampa. Florida just can't catch a break. Hopefully Hurricane Milton isn't too bad. I could never live in Florida too many issues with hurricanes. Have family on the West Coast and you can buy in areas that aren't prone to fires.

I could live in many areas except Florida.

 

[Betsy Ross]

I could live in many areas except Florida.

all this brings-up an interesting topic: for me, part of 'planting a flag' in a place is its distance from natural disasters. on the West side of the USA, forests are constantly on fire. in the Southeast, Hurricanes and flooding. the West coast is going to get demolished when the big earthquake finally hits, one of these decades/centuries. does anyone else focus on mitigating these types of events by trying to establish home bases that have low likelihoods of being subject to mother nature?

I try not to worry too much about what might happen. I agree with you @Wally Florida is a hard no because of the storms and also the horrible humid weather. I would probably stay away from areas prone to lots of flooding like parts of New Orleans.

Even in Buenos Aires I would avoid areas that might flood occasionally or ground floor apartments.

 

[Uncle Wong]

all this brings-up an interesting topic: for me, part of 'planting a flag' in a place is its distance from natural disasters. on the West side of the USA, forests are constantly on fire. in the Southeast, Hurricanes and flooding. the West coast is going to get demolished when the big earthquake finally hits, one of these decades/centuries. does anyone else focus on mitigating these types of events by trying to establish home bases that have low likelihoods of being subject to mother nature?

resources i HAVE found for air mapping in Buenos Aires:

1. https://www.iqair.com/us/air-quality-map/argentina/buenos-aires

2. https://www.aqi.in/air-quality-map

3. https://www.breezometer.com/air-quality-map/air-quality/argentina/buenos-aires-city

maps show a couple fires nearby, but downwind of the BsAs breeze. so, still unknown why BsAs is so cloaked in haze the past 48 hours, with all this wind still going on. regardless, i'm staying indoors until i know!

During my trip a few days I noticed a haze in BA. Not sure if it's from all the buses. Usually on some weather apps they have air quality listed but I didn't see anything for BA so these links would be helpful.

Are you allergic to bad air quality or pollutants @StatusNomadicus? Staying indoors seems like overkill unless the air quality was very bad.

I am hesitant to buy anywhere there are big risks year after year. Owning in Florida in some coastal areas seem like it could be an invitation to lots of issues. Some friends own in Florida and getting huge assessments from their condos to update things. Some high rise older condos are getting six figure assessments now.

I wouldn't worry about when and where earthquakes might hit as that is not frequent but if there is a storm every single year I would care more about that.

 

[Betsy Ross]

resources i HAVE found for air mapping in Buenos Aires:

1. https://www.iqair.com/us/air-quality-map/argentina/buenos-aires

2. https://www.aqi.in/air-quality-map

3. https://www.breezometer.com/air-quality-map/air-quality/argentina/buenos-aires-city

maps show a couple fires nearby, but downwind of the BsAs breeze. so, still unknown why BsAs is so cloaked in haze the past 48 hours, with all this wind still going on. regardless, i'm staying indoors until i know!

Thanks. Didn't know about these. The air quality can be bad in BA with all the buses. You can tell with some apartments that are on bus routes that leave their windows open all the time and their walls get dirty easily. I don't have any problems here but I have a few friends when they visit they always have problems with air quality.

 

[StatusNomadicus]

Hopefully Hurricane Milton isn't too bad.

it's looking bad:

"Catastrophic and record-breaking storm surge is expected from Hurricane Milton along Florida's Gulf Coast, the FOX Forecast Center warned, with the potential for the worst surge in more than 100 years in the Tampa Bay area." https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/milton-storm-surge-forecast-tampa-bay-helene

West Coast and you can buy in areas that aren't prone to fires.

sure, but the Big One there will be the 2nd-worst disaster on this continent: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one

i have no interest living or owning anything on the West coast:

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/06/10/21/85942251-13513943-The_Cascadia_Subduction_Zone_extends_along_a_600_mile_strip_of_t-a-166_1718049850094.jpg

I try not to worry too much about what might happen.

i don't really worry, i just plan and mitigate. it's like getting your oil changed - i'm not worried about my engine exploding, though it could happen in a freak accident, but i keep my vehicle maintenance so my risk is very low. buying a house below sea level is an example of taking action that is prone to MORE risk

During my trip a few days I noticed a haze in BA. Not sure if it's from all the buses. Usually on some weather apps they have air quality listed but I didn't see anything for BA so these links would be helpful.

BsAs definitely had crappier air than Cordoba and Mendoza. i'm sure it's just population-linked. the southeast of Cordoba had some nasty air at times, too. there is ZERO useful data on air quality in Argentina, compared to Chile or the USA or EU or UK. very disappointing. when i buy something, i'll spend the $200 and get an air monitor to publish something. sad that the commies couldn't be bothered to do this public service for 100 years

@Uncle Wong i don't smoke, so maybe i'm more sensitive, but just overall in life i try to mitigate my risk for things. if i'm going to run 2x/week, i just will shift my run day to a non-smoky day. no sense in going outside and breathing MORE equivalent of cigarettes arbitrarily. if AQI is over 50, i am cautious. if it's over 100, i stay inside. if it's 200+ i get the hell out of there. highest i've seen was 500 in Oregon, summer of 2023, huge wildfires nearby. i had to drive through a little section and kept my truck vents closed.

I wouldn't worry about when and where earthquakes might hit as that is not frequent but if there is a storm every single year I would care more about that.

the Big One on the West coast is going to kill thousands of people and put the economy and development back 10 years if not more. you should absolutely be worried about this specific one. small earthquakes are fine; the Tsumami and the combined aftershocks are what are going to wreck CA/OR/WA, unfortunately for the Coast folks.

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[Uncle Wong]

not to mention the Hurricane Helene aftermath that erased entire towns in western NC/Appalachia, and now Hurricane Milton is likely going to hit Tampa FL etc. on Tuesday 08Oct2024!

Like I said, no way I would ever want to buy in Florida. Milton is going to be a monster!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1843419230378832124