Science & Technology

Did Nepal earthquake shrink Mount Everest ?

By T.K. Randall
January 25, 2017

Image: Mt. Everest from Gokyo Ri (2012)
Credit: Rdevany / CC BY-SA 3.0 (adapted) There remain few peaks on Earth that can match the breathtaking spectacle and challenging conditions of Everest - a mountain with an official recorded height of 29,029ft.

Following the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Nepal back in 2015 however, satellite readings have suggested that Everest may actually be up to an inch shorter than it used to be.

Now in a renewed effort to determine whether this is actually the case, two teams will be setting out to take new measurements. One of the teams will climb to the summit and spend two hours there to take GPS readings while the second will calculate the height using traditional triangulation methods.Climbing to the top of the mountain however, which has claimed many lives over the years, is a challenge only the fittest of climbers can ever hope to achieve.

According to India's surveyor general, Swarna Subba Rao, the ascent will be undertaken by three or four agency officers "who are physically fit, able-bodied and qualified to go."

The expedition, which will cost around $700,000, is being conducted jointly with the government of Nepal and will begin as soon as the climbers are ready and the conditions are right.

"We're preparing our people, acclimatising them, training them in mountaineering," said Rao.

Source: The Guardian

Tags: Mount Everest