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Man, Climate, and Changes of Altitude

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Recent Studies in Bioclimatology

Part of the book series: Meteorological Monographs ((METEOR,volume 2))

Abstract

When considering the effects of mountain climate it is important to have in mind, not only the altitude itself, but the gradient of oxygen pressures which progressively decrease from sea level (153 mm pO2) to 75 mm pO2 at the highest inhabitated place (17,000 ft), within the ecological environment. The congenitally acclimatized man balances the climatic stress at any ecological altitude by developing compensatory reactions: a system of oxygen supply through anthropological, physiological, and chemical mechanisms—the “Altitude Thorax”—ensuring the characteristic high pulmonary ventilation; a system of oxygen intake, through the blood, etc., the hemoglobin doubling in amount; and a system of distribution through the heart and vessels, which makes a heavy weight athlete of the altitude-man. Acclimatization may also be acquired through adaptive biological processes. Adaptation leads to acclimatization. Man from high altitudes also has to become acclimatized to the stress of the hyperoxygenated sea-level atmosphere if he remains on the coast. Acclimatization can not be reached or it can be lost. Chronic mountain sickness then supervenes, disappearing only when a man goes down to a lower altitude. No wonder the meaning of acclimatization is to equilibrate the internal milieu and the external environment. A bioclimatic influence is at the basis of form, function, and sociological behavior.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Andean Biology, Lima, Peru

    C. Monge M. (Director)

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  1. C. Monge M.
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F. Sargent II R. G. Stone

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© 1954 American Meteorological Society

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Monge M., C. (1954). Man, Climate, and Changes of Altitude. In: Sargent, F., Stone, R.G. (eds) Recent Studies in Bioclimatology. Meteorological Monographs, vol 2. American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-940033-11-2_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-940033-11-2_6

  • Publisher Name: American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-940033-11-2

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