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Everest ‘grows’ as China, Nepal agree new height
KATHMANDU, Dec 8, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – The highest point on Earth got a bit
higher Tuesday as China and Nepal finally agreed on a precise elevation for
Mount Everest after decades of debate.
The agreed height unveiled at a joint news conference in Kathmandu of
8,848.86 metres (29,031 feet) was 86 centimetres (2.8 feet) higher than the
measurement previously recognised by Nepal, and more than four metres above
China’s official figure.
The discrepancy was due to the China measuring the rock base on the summit
and not — as with the new reading — the covering of snow and ice on the
peak.
Nepal decided to conduct the survey — its first — after suggestions that
tectonic plate movements including a major earthquake in 2015 may have
affected the height.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1610 hrs