Mount Everest is now 2 feet taller, China and Nepal announce together!

On 8 December 2020, the two countries of the world, China and Nepal together announced the current height of the highest place on the Earth, Mount Everest. This highest peak of the world is in Nepal. The peak is 29031.69 feet above the mean sea level. And this is 2 feet taller than the altitude that was earlier announced by the Government of the Himalayan country. 

The new height of Mount Everest

The Himalayan country of Nepal is the proud owner of the highest peak of the world namely Mount Everest. The height of the peak goes variations over time due to geographical changes in the region. This year, the new height was to be announced. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the result declaration got delayed. But now after both the countries re-measured the heights independently, they together made the announcement of the new elevation after reaching a consensus. 

Mount Everest height [Source: Britannica]

And the new height of Mount Everest is set at 29031.69 feet above the mean sea level. The Survey Departments of Nepal and China made a joint statement on it on the 8th of December 2020. And this was the culmination of efforts of the two countries over years to get the exact measurement of the highest elevation on the Earth. 

Details of these measurements

Prior to this, the first serious measurement of the legendary mountain peak was done around 16 years ago. The geographic community worldwide was closely following the efforts that the two countries were putting in to get the exact height on record. 

The highest point on Earth [Source: Wikipedia]

Scientists were keener to know the impact that the 2015 earthquake had on the mountain peak and its height. The earthquake was of a 7.8 magnitude on the Richter scale and had caused a lot of devastation in the region. Additionally, scientists speculated that the height of the mountain peak might have definitely got affected by this devastation. The regular climbers of the peak were also noticing some changes in the peak now after 2015. 

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How the surveyors measured the height?

In the spring of 2019, a small group of Nepali surveyors and guides braved the biting cold on the top and did an overnight climb to reach the mountain peak at 3 am local time. They wanted to measure the height before the human traffic of recreational and foreign climbers come in for the ascent. Khimlal Gautam was the chief surveyor of the project. He told National Geographic last year: 

"We want to deliver the message that we can do something with our own resources and technical manpower." 

Mount Everest height is 29031.69 feet above sea level [Source: the New York Times]

It was in 1856, that the famous mathematician of the Great Trigonometrical Survey, Radhanath Sickdhar had discovered that Mount Everest is the highest point on the Earth. Since then, several survey teams started to try to get an accurate assessment of the height of the peak. Before the satellites came in, surveyors used a theodolite to try to measure the height. In 1954, the height was said to be 29028 feet. Bradford Washburn and his team in 1999 put the figure of 29035 as the height of the iconic peak. He had used the GPS. 

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And the Nepalese team now used both the above techniques. The Chinese team measured the height from the Northern side with GPS techniques. Both countries are confident of this new figure of the height of Mount Everest. But Khimlal clarified that every measurement comes with a margin of error and this new figure of the height would also have it. It is the most probable value (MPV).