New height of Mt Everest measure 8848.86 meters

December 8, 2020, 02:06:41 PM |

KATHMANDU: The new height of world’s tallest peak Sagarmatha (Mount Everest) has been measured 8848.86 meters.

Nepal and China today jointly announced the new height adjustment of Mt Everest through a virtual programme, ending a long-standing dispute on how tall the world’s tallest peak is.

Since Indian mathematician Radhanath Sikdar measured its elevation 168 years ago, the height of Mount Everest is always known to be 29,028 feet (8,848 metres).

The measurement was reconfirmed by the Survey of India in 1954.

Nepal and China jointly decided to measure the height of Mt everest following widespread geologists’ speculation that the height of Everest could have changed due to the 2015 earthquake with a possible shift in its position.

The Indian measurement was further corroborated by a 1975 Chinese mission. But 15 years ago, the communist country decided to remeasure it and this time Chinese scientists deduced that the majestic peak’s height was actually 29,017 ft (8844.43 mt), a reduction of 11 feet from the measurement known since the last century.

The Chinese calculation was based on the summit’s rock height whereas the Nepalese calculation (on the basis of what Sikdar and Survey of India found) was based on the snow height that adds a layer of 3.5 mt on top of the rocks.

The dispute on the altitude persisted for some years till Nepal was hit by a powerful earthquake in 2015. The quake triggered doubts among the scientific community on whether Mt Everest has shrunk or grew taller.

Earlier, both Nepal and China has assigned dozens of surveyors to measure the height of Mt Everest.