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In the death zone, the human body cannot acclimatize. An extended stay in the death zone without supplementary oxygen will result in deterioration of bodily functions, loss of consciousness, and, ultimately, death. [3] [4] [5] The summit of K2, the second highest mountain on Earth, is in the death zone.
In mountaineering, the death zone refers to altitudes above which the pressure of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span. This point is generally agreed as 8,000 m (26,000 ft), where atmospheric pressure is less than 356 millibars (10.5 inHg; 5.16 psi). [ 1 ]
Humans are generally adapted to lowland environments where oxygen is abundant. [12] At altitudes above 2,500 meters (8,200 ft), such humans experience altitude sickness, which is a type of hypoxia, a clinical syndrome of severe lack of oxygen. Some humans develop the illness beginning at above 1,500 meters (5,000 ft). [13]
Over 81 million people live permanently at high altitudes (>2,500 m or 8,200 ft) [52] in North, Central and South America, East Africa, and Asia, and have flourished for millennia in the exceptionally high mountains, without any apparent complications. [53] For average human populations, a brief stay at these places can risk mountain sickness. [54]
The mountain was first climbed on October 19, 1954, via the north-west ridge by Herbert Tichy, Joseph Jöchler and Sherpa Pasang Dawa Lama of an Austrian expedition. [10] Cho Oyu was the fifth eight-thousander to be climbed, after Annapurna in June 1950, Mount Everest in May 1953, Nanga Parbat in July 1953 and K2 in July 1954.
A 2022 Outside article on heat stroke cites the highest known body temperature that a human was able to survive: “The highest body temperature measured was only 17 degrees above normal. Willie ...
In the region from sea level to around 3,000 m (10,000 ft), known as the physiological-efficient zone, oxygen levels are usually high enough for humans to function without supplemental oxygen and altitude decompression sickness is rare. The physiological-deficient zone extends from 3,600 m (12,000 ft) to about 15,000 m (50,000 ft).
Chimborazo is only the 39 th tallest mountain in the Andes, when measured from sea level, but there was a brief time in the 19 th century when it was thought to be the world’s highest peak.