Latest news with #hypoxia
CBS News
5 days ago
- Climate
- CBS News
Oxygen levels in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay decline after heavy rain in May, data shows
The Chesapeake Bay saw historically low oxygen levels in June, after heavy rain in May, according to data from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR). According to a DNR report, the low oxygen levels led to hypoxia in the bay, which happens when the water has less than 2 mg/l of oxygen. An increase in hypoxia levels can impact fish and crabs that live in the water. The hypoxia increase in the Chesapeake Bay was reported between early and late June. However, no hypoxia was recorded in May. In the past 41 years, there were only nine times when hypoxia was not seen in May, according to the DNR. Data shows hypoxia increased from below average levels in early June to above average in late June. It comes after heavy rainfall in Maryland and Pennsylvania during May and hot temperatures during June. According to the DNR, heavy rainfall can lead to lower oxygen levels as runoff pushes excess nutrients into the Chesapeake Bay. This can impact algal blooms and reduce the clarity of the water. The regional weather patterns fueled algal blooms and resulted in less oxygen consumption. Temperatures also impact hypoxia levels as warmer water holds less oxygen. Data shows hypoxia in the Bay was triple the normal average in late June, the largest volume of hypoxia seen in Maryland since the monitoring program began. The increase in hypoxia levels can impact wildlife in the Chesapeake Bay, as crabs, fish, oysters and other animals need the dissolved oxygen to live. According to the DNR, some watermen reported finding dead crabs in shallow water in early July. An analysis found that winds between July 1 and July 4 likely pushed water east, allowing low oxygen levels to come closer to the surface in some locations. The DNR is studying the level and duration of hypoxia in the Bay to determine specific impacts to wildlife. DNR officials also emphasized that reducing phosphorus pollution from industrial and wastewater runoff, farms and cities could reduce hypoxia conditions in the Bay.
ABC News
20-06-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Hypoxia is rare, but it's been behind several fatal plane crashes in Australia
Blue lips, slurred speech, euphoria, confusion — these are just some of the warning signs of hypoxia, a lack of oxygen in the body, which can be deadly in the air. It's rare, but hypoxia has been behind several fatal plane crashes in Australia. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), which investigates aircraft incidents, recently found that a 2023 triple-fatal crash near Cloncurry was "entirely preventable" and that the pilot likely suffered hypoxia caused by a well-known, long-standing defect. Respiratory specialist Dr Ian Yang says, put simply, it's low oxygen in the body and brain. Dr Yang says common symptoms include confusion, rapid breathing, a racing heart and a false sense of calm. "A lot of our patients living with moderate to severe conditions like COPD (lung disease) will have low oxygen but it's very rare in the general community," he says. "If someone comes to us with moderate to severe lung conditions we test in our laboratory to test what their oxygen levels are, if it drops too low we'll recommend they need oxygen on the plane." Aviation doctor and pilot Dr Hui Tan says hypoxia can start silently above 10,000 feet, if cabin pressure drops and oxygen systems fail. "Pilots might feel fine, then suddenly can't function," he says. Dr Tan says some have reported tingling ears, nausea, or warmth before losing awareness. The ATSB has investigated seven major hypoxia-related incidents since the late 90s, from a 2000 crash that killed all onboard, to a 2020 case where a pilot passed out mid-flight. In many cases, pressure systems failed or oxygen masks weren't working. Yes, with training and awareness. Some pilots, particularly those in the military, undergo hypoxia simulation training to learn to spot the symptoms early. Dr Tan operates a specialised hypoxia chamber in Western Australia to help pilots experience and recognise the signs of low oxygen in a safe way. He himself has experienced it first-hand. "I was quite taken aback by the symptoms, it was similar to being under the influence where you have the light-headedness and I was convinced if I experienced that again in an aircraft I'd know what those symptoms were and I could do something about it," he says. "That's why we offer the training we do, so pilots can experience these symptoms first-hand in our enclosure and, if something happens in future, recognise the same hypoxia symptoms and put their oxygen mask on before they start troubleshooting. "Where people get in trouble is where they don't recognise the symptoms. "I set this up to give pilots awareness and if I save one life from hypoxia then this training has been worth it." In-flight? Immediate oxygen and descent. Air traffic controllers are also trained to spot signs including slurred pilot speech and can direct aircraft to descend quickly to safer altitudes. Dr Yang says on the ground, treatment depends on the cause, but in aviation, it is all about quick recognition and fast action. "The treatment for those with underlying conditions like COPD can include inhalers or exercise, and in serious cases oxygen," he says. "In aviation the treatment for patients with low oxygen is oxygen on the plane." The fatal 2023 crash is subject to an open coronial investigation. In a statement, a CASA spokesperson says the Cloncurry incident highlights the importance of being aware of the risk of hypoxia. "We note the ATSB's report and are considering the findings," the spokesperson says.
ABC News
19-06-2025
- General
- ABC News
Final report into fatal outback plane crash blames pressure issue for lack of oxygen, finds operator AGAIR was aware
A pressurisation defect that deprived the pilot of oxygen resulted in a fatal plane crash that claimed the lives of three people in outback Queensland in 2023, a transport safety investigation has found. The Gulfstream 695A aircraft took off from Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, on November 4, 2023 and was on its way to photograph fire zones north of Mount Isa. But the plane crashed about 55 kilometres south-east of Cloncurry in open bushland and burned up after impact. On board were a pilot and two camera operators, including 22-year-old William Jennings from the United States, all of whom died in the crash. The flight was operated by operated by Victorian company AGAIR. In its final report, released this morning, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) found the pilot was experiencing hypoxia when the crash occurred. ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said the "aircraft's pressurisation system was not reliably maintaining the required cabin altitude", which had been in issue for "many months". "This led some company pilots to employ a variety of actions in the aircraft to manage the potential and deadly effects of hypoxia, including at times briefly descending to lower altitudes, and improperly using emergency oxygen systems," he said. On the day of the accident, the pilot had descended from 28,000 feet to 15,000 feet for about six minutes before climbing back up to 28,000 ft, he said. "Later, while the aircraft was ... nearing Cloncurry at 28,000 ft, both power levers were probably reduced, possibly with the intention of undertaking a similar descent," the ATSB report found. "This caused the aircraft's speed to decay, before it ultimately entered a steep, descending, anticlockwise turn. Mr Mitchell said it was almost certainly due to pilot control inputs made in an unsuccessful attempt to regain control. "The ATSB found the onset of hypoxia during the flight significantly degraded the pilot's ability to safely operate the aircraft, and it is possible that at stages the pilot also experienced some loss of consciousness," he said. The ATSB said the pressurisation defect in the plane was known to senior AGAIR management, who attempted to have it rectified. "However, they did not formally record the defect, communicate it to the safety manager, undertake a formal risk assessment of it, or provide explicit procedures to pilots for managing it," Mr Mitchell said. An online fundraiser to bring Mr Jennings home received over $92,625 US in donations — about $142,000 AUD. In the fundraiser, his family said William was "a bright light extinguished too soon". "William was a 22-year-old promising mechanical engineer who recently graduated from Northeastern University," his family said. "He had an exciting life ahead of him, but tragically lost his life in a plane accident while surveying fires in Australia. "William was known to bring light to any room he walked into, and his sense of humour was infectious. "He was an avid hiker and lover of nature, always seeking new adventures in life." The other two people on board the aircraft are yet to be publicly identified.
News.com.au
28-05-2025
- General
- News.com.au
Paraglider survived being sucked 8.5km into the sky in rare ‘cloud suction'
A shocking video shows the terrifying moment a paraglider was sucked 8.5km into the sky and endured bone-chilling conditions among the clouds. He reportedly became trapped in a rare 'cloud suction' that pulled him more than 8.5km into the air during a flight over China. The paraglider, who miraculously survived the ordeal on Saturday, caught the nerve-shredding moments on camera. His jaw-dropping footage has now gone viral on social media. He took off for his flight from an altitude of around 3,000 metres over the Qilian Mountains according to local media reports. But the paraglider quickly malfunctioned and became uncontrollable, as he was dragged up thousands on feet into the clouds. He was sucked to the sort of heights at which passenger aeroplanes might cruise. The footage lays bare the icy conditions he had to endure, suffering from extensive frostbite at the terrifying altitude. He can be seen clinging onto his parachute for dear life in the frightening conditions. Visibility is initially poor at the start of the clip as the paraglider is sucked to high altitudes over the mountains. But at the peak of the trip, he can be seen dangling over the clouds – visibly freezing cold and covered in frost. He was not wearing an oxygen mask, fully exposing him to the hostile elements. However, the man miraculously remained conscious throughout the ordeal and successfully brought his parachute to a safe landing. He later recalled experiencing hypoxia and having his hands exposed to the blistering cold above the clouds, local media reported. 'I just kept communicating over the radio the entire time,' he said. An experienced paraglider, surnamed Ou, told local media that few people would survive being pulled to such high altitudes. 'This is truly miraculous,' Ou said. 'His mental resilience was extraordinary.' Ou added that paragliders will typically come prepared for such flights with cold weather gear, as it would already be extremely cold at the takeoff altitude. But at 8,000 metres, temperatures can drop to as low as -40, and oxygen supplies would be critically low, Jiupai News reported. The incident is now being investigated by regulatory authorities. A source told Jiupai News that he had failed to file the necessary flight plan – including getting airspace clearance for the launch site. Chinese national aviation sports regulations state that aerial activities need prior airspace approval from air traffic control. Paragliding activities have to be carried out according to a prearranged plan, and trips are prohibited under adverse weather conditions. Changing flight plans without authorisation is also not allowed. Penalties for those found in breach of the rules range from warning and fines to criminal charges, local media reports.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Humans Are Evolving Right in Front of Our Eyes on The Tibetan Plateau
Humans are not yet done cooking. We're continuing to evolve and adjust to the world around us, the records of our adaptations written in our bodies. We know that there are some environments that can make us unwell. Mountain climbers often succumb to altitude sickness – the body's reaction to a significant drop in atmospheric pressure, which means less oxygen is taken in with each breath. And yet, in high altitudes on the Tibetan Plateau, where oxygen levels in the air people breathe are notably lower than lower altitudes, human communities thrive. In the more than 10,000 years the region has been settled, the bodies of those living there have changed in ways that allow the inhabitants to make the most of an atmosphere that for most humans would result in not enough oxygen being delivered via blood cells to the body's tissues, a condition known as hypoxia. "Adaptation to high-altitude hypoxia is fascinating because the stress is severe, experienced equally by everyone at a given altitude, and quantifiable," anthropologist Cynthia Beall of Case Western Reserve University in the US told ScienceAlert. "It is a beautiful example of how and why our species has so much biological variation." Beall has been studying the human response to hypoxic living conditions for years. In research published in October 2024, she and her team unveiled some of the specific adaptations in Tibetan communities: traits that help the blood deliver oxygen. To unlock this discovery, the researchers delved into one of the markers of what we call evolutionary fitness: reproductive success. Women who deliver live babies are those who pass on their traits to the next generation. The traits that maximize an individual's success in a given environment are most likely to be found in women who are able to survive the stresses of pregnancy and childbirth. These women are more likely to give birth to more babies; and those babies, having inherited survivability traits from their mothers, are also more likely to survive to adulthood, and pass the traits on to the next generation. That's natural selection at work, and it can be a bit strange and counterintuitive; in places where malaria is common, for example, the incidence of sickle cell anemia is high, because it involves a gene that protects against malaria. Beall and her team made a study of 417 women between the ages of 46 and 86 years who have lived all their lives in Nepal above altitudes of around 3,500 meters (11,480 feet). The researchers recorded the number of live births, ranging between 0 and 14 per woman for an average of 5.2, as well as health and physical information and measurements. Among the things they measured were levels of hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells responsible for delivering oxygen to tissues. They also measured how much oxygen was being carried by the hemoglobin. Interestingly, the women who demonstrated the highest rate of live births had hemoglobin levels that were neither high nor low, but average for the testing group. But the oxygen saturation of the hemoglobin was high. Together, the results suggest that the adaptations are able to maximize oxygen delivery to cells and tissues without thickening the blood – a result that would place more stress on the heart as it struggles to pump a higher viscosity fluid more resistant to flow. "Previously we knew that lower hemoglobin was beneficial, now we understand that an intermediate value has the highest benefit. We knew that higher oxygen saturation of hemoglobin was beneficial, now we understand that the higher the saturation the more beneficial. The number of live births quantifies the benefits," Beall said. "It was unexpected to find that women can have many live births with low values of some oxygen transport traits if they have favorable values of other oxygen transport traits." The women with the highest reproductive success rate also had a high rate of blood flow into the lungs, and their hearts had wider than average left ventricles, the chamber of the heart responsible for pumping oxygenated blood into the body. Taken all together, these traits increase the rate of oxygen transport and delivery, enabling the human body to make the most of the low oxygen in the air respired. It's important to note that cultural factors can play a role, too. Women who start reproducing young and have long marriages seem to have a longer exposure to the possibility of pregnancy, which also increases the number of live births, the researchers found. Even taking that into account, however, the physical traits played a role. Nepalese women with physiologies most similar to women in unstressed, low altitude environments tended to have the highest rate of reproductive success. "This is a case of ongoing natural selection," Beall said. "Understanding how populations like these adapt gives us a better grasp of the processes of human evolution." The research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. An earlier version of this article was published in October 2024. Nanoplastics Stick to Toxic Bacteria, Forming a Deadly Combination Expert Explains FDA's New COVID Vaccine Rules in The US Your Perfume Could Be Messing With Your Chemical Force Shield
