The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is an attraction for ecological and cultural tourists. However, the risk of hypoxia threatens serious harm to human health. It is of great significance to study the hypoxia risk in the Qinghai Tibet Plateau from the perspective of the physical geography for the local development and the hypoxia policy-making. In this study, the relationship between the altitude and the blood oxygen saturation is studied and the spatial distribution map of the hypoxia in the Tibetan Plateau is obtained. It is shown that, (1) the absolute oxygen content decreases linearly with the increase of the altitude（y=- 0.0325x+280.45, n=70, r²=0.94）; (2) there is an exponential relationship between the blood oxygen saturation and the altitude（y= 104-0.68×e^0.35x+1.77, n=70, r²=0.57）and with the increase of the altitude, the risk of the hypoxia increases exponentially; (3) the Tibetan Plateau is divided into the high risk area, the medium risk area and the low risk area of hypoxia according to the relationship between the blood oxygen saturation and the altitude. The study could provide a scientific basis for the regional tourism development strategy and also a theoretical basis for further exploring the mechanism of the altitude anoxia.

Qinghai-Tibet Plateau  /  high altitude  /  blood oxygen saturation  /  hypoxia risk