Silurian hypothesis

[Thomas Okken]

(04-24-2019 03:49 PM)Maximilian Hohmann Wrote:  The only thing to avoid is rapid compression and rapid decompression as this will damage the lungs and hollows inside one's head, causing a "barotrauma" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barotrauma).

That kind of trauma is easy to avoid with the breathing and pressure equalization techniques that are among the first thing any scuba diver learns. The real danger is the bends, which is what happens when you decompress too quickly after having been at high pressure for some time: gas which has dissolved into your blood and tissues comes out of solution, and when it can't escape the body quickly enough, forms bubbles which cause blood clots, and those can cause permanent injuries and even death. But even then, it's not the pressure that kills, but the decompression.