City With Worst Air Not Beijing or New Delhi, but Temuco, Chile

The city with the worst air in the world is not Beijing or New Delhi, but Temuco in Chile. The city had the worst recorded air quality in all cities worldwide for at least five days within the past two months.

Temuco is located in central Chile in a valley near snow-capped mountains and lakes. It is considered the most polluted city in the world. Each winter, the sleepy city goes down to the very bottom of rankings in air quality. Even if cities like New Delhi and Beijing have more than 100 times more people compared to Temuco, it surpasses them in contamination not due to economic activity, but due to poverty.

From June to August, winter temperatures in the city can go down to 4º C (or 39º F). Temuco's residents, known as temuquenses, number 220,000, and hardship in life causes them to burn usually wet and cheap firewood in order to stay warm.

Sometimes, only a half block can be visible on the street due to the thick gray smoke permeating the air. It is akin to having permanent fog, except that it is smoke. This is according to Patricia Bravo, a 60-year old lady who has lived in Temuco since she was a girl. By now, she is already used to having itchy eyes and a smoke-smelling living room.

The data came from OpenAQ, a non-profit group, and Bloomberg Green. Chile has 25 out of the 30 most polluted South American cities, according to data from IQAir's annual report in 2019. IQAir is a consulting firm from Switzerland.

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According to Temuco cardiologist Fernando Lana, who has practiced in Temuco for 40 years, there is an almost perfect correlation between the levels of contamination and patient visits for cardiac failure and heart disease. This has been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected over 3.6 million in Latin America.

The quarantine in Chile may have increased household fireplace pollution. Burning wood produces microscopic particles and soot that increase stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, asthma, and pneumonia risks. A study from Harvard says that the COVID-19 mortality rate increased by 8% when there was high exposure to airborne particulates of only one microgram for every cubic meter.

A Universidad de la Frontera and city hall report linked the cold and the rise in air pollution to the doubling of COVID-19 cases reported  in March. After quarantine was lifted in April, COVID-19 cases decreased. Sixty-seven out of over 7,000 COVID-19 deaths in the country were from Temuco, according to Health Ministry data.

The Chilean government has had a problem in the periodic rise in air pollution across the southern part of the nation. It is now seeking to decrease electricity rates in order for more Chilean citizens may be able to afford the use of electricity in heating their homes instead of having to resort to burning wood. This is according to Juan Carlos Jobet, Chile's Energy Minister, during an interview on Bloomberg Radio last month.

He says, however, that the expected effects will not happen this winter and it will take time. He added that damp wood may be cheap for buyers, but it is very expensive for our society.

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