eli5, why is there less oxygen at higher altitudes?
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Oxygen is a gas. Alongside nitrogen gas and a bit of CO2 and argon, it makes up our atmosphere.
These gases have weight. The ones higher up are bearing down on the ones closer to the ground. The ones down here are being squished by all of that weight above them.
Because they’re being squished, they are denser. More of the gas fits into the same space – more of the gas fits into your lungs.
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