Altitude is the vertical distance or distance between a point on earth and sea level. If a person wants to calculate the altitude of an area, he must take the sea level as a reference. However, this point is not entirely continuous since the action of the tides can modify it.
For this reason, many countries usually establish a sea level, taking a specific place and a special time of year. Therefore, if you want to calculate the altitude of a country, it is necessary to do it based on that preceded level.
In most Latin American and European countries, altitude is measured in meters, that is why it is said: so many meters above sea level. However, countries like the United States usually measure in feet and not in meters.
To measure altitude it is necessary to use an instrument called an “ altimeter ”. This device allows you to establish the distance between your location point and a reference point. This instrument is generally used to measure the height above sea level. In aeronautics, the altimeter is an essential and significant tool of an airplane, giving greater confidence to the people who travel in it.
Geographically the altitude shows important data of a geographic area. Some cities are located at more than 3000 meters high, which represents that the living conditions of the people who live in them are usually affected by this, since the altitude influences the use of oxygen, which would bring serious Problems of adaptation.
Altitude negatively affects people's health since the saturation level of hemoglobin with oxygen fixes the content of the blood. When the body reaches around 2,100 meters above sea level, oxyhemoglobin begins to fall violently, however, the body has the ability to adapt in the short and long term, which helps it to partially compensate for the lack of oxygen. Athletes often go through this adaptation process in order to improve their performance.
However, these adaptations have a limit and are those altitudes that exceed 8,000 meters, mountaineers consider it the zone of death, since no human being has been able to adapt to it.
