An excessive increase of CO2 compared to oxygen would worsen the psychological situation of the crew, causing panic and an agonizing sense of suffocation at the final moment
The massive search and rescue effort of the submersible Titan, which disappeared near the wreck of the Titanic off the coast of Canada on Sunday, has entered its most critical phase. For the recovery of the vehicle and the five crew members, there is very little time left before the oxygen supplies run out. The end of breathable air, according to an estimate, set between 11 and 12 (Italian time). The search area was expanded after the detection of some sounds: it now covers a very large area (about 26 thousand square kilometers) and 4 kilometers deep.
What will happen at that moment? The most feared and unfortunately the most probable scenario is that of suffocation. Lack of oxygen paradoxically not the worst case scenario – he clarifies Matthew Cerriprofessor of Physiology at the University of Bologna —: decisive for end-of-life dynamics if oxygen runs out or carbon dioxide (CO2) increases too much. An excessive increase of CO2 compared to oxygen would worsen the psychological situation causing panic and a distressing sense of suffocation in the final moment, because the increase in CO2 is perceived by our brain with an extremely anxiety-producing signal and the reason why fear is triggered – says the expert -. If the oxygen drops before the CO2 reaches a high concentration, they would take over first a severe headache, then drowsiness and then a progressive sleep. Our brain is not “structured” to understand how much oxygen is missing, it may seem paradoxical, but much more “interested” in CO2, therefore if oxygen drops but CO2 remains normal, the reaction of our vegetative system would not be as dramatic as with the opposite hypothesis.
It might be a better situation in quotes because a person, instead of gasping and dying of suffocation, she would fall asleep. What could the prevalence of oxygen or CO2 depend on? Come on filters used: a problem for any small environment – explains the specialist -, the internal air cleaning activity can depend on the electronic instrumentation on board, which could be non-functional, and also depends on how much oxygen had been stored.
June 22, 2023 (change June 22, 2023 | 10:24 am)
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