Mount Everest Is Getting Taller Year After Year

Slowly but surely, Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, keeps reaching up higher into the sky.

Determining Everest’s height isn’t as straightforward as it might seem. Advanced technology like satellite imaging, GPS surveys, and laser measurement have refined our understanding of Everest’s elevation over the years.

In 2020, a joint survey by China and Nepal officially declared its height as 8,848.86 meters, settling a long-standing debate over its precise elevation.

Now, a study from the University College London sheds light on why Mount Everest is taller, and continues to get taller.

A geologic term called isostatic rebound and surrounding erosion from a nearby river is pushing the mountain upwards. Though only growing by up to .08 inches (2mm) per year, Everest has climbed between 50 feet (15m) and 164 feet (50m) over the last 89,000 years.

“The study, published in Nature Geoscience, found that erosion from a river network about 75 kilometres from Mount Everest is carving away a substantial gorge. The loss of this landmass is causing the mountain to spring upwards by as much as 2 millimetres a year and has already increased its height by between 15 and 50 metres over the past 89,000 years.”

Via University College London