Why do divers need to spend time decompressing if they’re in pressurized suits?

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Astronauts and people in airplanes can just sit in a pressurized suit or cabin and come down back to Earth without any trouble, but for some reason divers need to slowly resurface even though they’re still only feeling one earth atmosphere in their suits and undersea chambers. Why do nitrogen and other gasses build up if the divers are only under one atmosphere of pressure?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Planes and spaceships are pressurized *relative to the outside environment,* where pressure is so low humans cannot remain conscious. Air pressure on board is almost always lower than atmosphere at sea level, since large pressure differences create stress on the hull and can contribute to structural failure.

Ordinary SCUBA diving suits are not pressure sealed. Divers experience much more than one atmosphere of pressure.

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