Chinese to Measure Everest to See If It Is Growing or Shrinking

The Scotsman reports that a Chinese women’s mountaineering expedition are going to remeasure Everest to determine if it is shrinking or growing. In 1975 the Chinese concluded it was 8,848.50 metres (29,029.35 feet) high. In 1999, a U.S. team with GPS measured it higher at 8,850 metres. Some climbers have reported receding snowlines. However scientists note that Everest’s natural state is for it to be pushed up. It would take major rockfalls for Everest to decrease in height. The Himalayas are uplifting at a rate of about one centimetre a year due to the collision of the Indian continental plate with the Asian plate. The Chinese call the peak Chomolungma, meaning mother goddess of the earth.