Adaptive response characteristics of people entering Tibet to plateau dry environment

The air on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is thin and dry. The human body reacts to the dry environment of the plateau in a certain way, and understanding this response is crucial for assuring the comfort and health of people entering Tibet. In this paper, the human symptomatology dryness characterization index is analysed, and the adaptive dryness response traits of people entering Tibet during the winter and summer are compared. The results show that the sensitivity of different body parts to the dry plateau environment varies, and the sensitivity of the lips, nasal cavity, throat, skin and eyes to relative humidity diminishes in that order. The relative humidity of the skin surface is affected by the air relative humidity and the level of adaptation. The human body adapts to the dry environment about a week after entering Tibet, and the relative humidity of the skin surface increases by about 3% per day. After adaptation, the indoor temperature remains constant, and for every 10% increase in indoor relative humidity, the relative humidity of the human skin surface increases by 8% and 6% in summer and winter, respectively. The increase of air relative humidity in plateau areas leads to an increase in human thermal sensation and has a significant impact on human thermal comfort.