Mount Everest now two feet taller, according to new measurements
Mount Everest is standing a little bit taller today.
After sending survey teams to the world's largest mountain, Chinese and Nepali governments have agreed Mount Everest is about two feet higher than previous calculations.
But even this calculation may require a future revision because the mountain rests on colliding Indian and Eurasian plates that keep pushing it higher at an average rate of about 1 cm per year.
HEIGHT DISPUTE
A 2005 Chinese survey of Everest put the mountain's height at 8,844 metres, in line with the estimates from a 1955 Indian survey.
Nepal did not recognize the assessment, because the research was not authorized by its government.
In 2015, research suggested the elevation may have changed when a magnitude-7.8 earthquake hit Nepal.
That kicked off a joint effort between China and Nepal to confirm the new height.
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OTHER MOUNTAIN HEIGHTS REVISED
File photo of Mount Everest, courtesy of Pixabay.
Mount Everest isn’t the first peak to have its official height revised, but most of them lose metres when this happens.
In 2015, Denali -- the tallest mountain in North America -- lost three metres when satellites re-measured it.
And in New Zealand, Mount Cook lost 10 metres when a 1991 avalanche wiped away its snow top.