Costa Rica News – I’m sure you’ve heard the old wives tale that you need to shower after getting caught in the rain. I say that’s a shower enough, but the little old ladies cry, “The smog! The smog!” It turns out that the air in Costa Rica is not as bad as they fear. Costa Rica has placed 31st out of 282 countries for the cleanest air, according to the World Health Organization.
Many cities around the world are covered by dirty air, but what are they to do, boycott breathing? Some cities, like Copenhagen and Bogota, have bettered their air quality by promoting biking and other forms of active transportation.
There are different types of particles to measure when testing air quality. These include PM 2.5 and PM10. Costa Rica does not yet have a way to measure the smallest of these particles, which most easily enter the lungs. They are supposed to update the quality standard for the air every five years, but have not done so since 2002.
When rules for implementing a higher standard of air come about, we may see more bike lanes than the four or so I’ve seen in the country. That would be great! At that point, we may move higher on the list of countries with clean air and see less frequent respiratory ailments.
