eli5: Why do deserts and places with little to no vegetation have as much oxygen as everywhere else.

Question

Is there simply so much oxygen that it gets everywhere on Earth or is it something else?

In: Physics

Answer 1

Actually, much more oxygen is generated by the ocean than anything else. But plants and trees do play an important part.

The easy answer is wind. The winds that circle the earth keep the oxygen flowing all around the earth and most areas have pretty much the same oxygen level.

You start getting less oxygen at higher altitudes, and that’s because oxygen settles closer to sea level vs other gasses.

At sea level, the air is approx 21% oxygen.

At 5500 meters it’s approx 10.5% oxygen.

At the summit of Everest (aproxx 8900 meters) its about 6% oxygen.