About Mount Everest!
Did you know that Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world? It stands at 8,850 metres (29,035 feet!) and is part of the Himalayas, located between Nepal and Tibet.
In 1953, a brave man from New Zealand, Edmund Hillary, and his trusty guide, Tenzing Norgay, were the first to climb Everest. Now, lots of people try to climb Everest, but it can be dangerous due to avalanches and low oxygen.
To climb Mount Everest, one needs to be super fit, have lots of training, and have a great guide. Here’s a fun fact: Mount Everest is still growing taller! How cool is that?
Huh! Mount Everest is still growing?
Mount Everest is getting taller! It grows a little bit each year through a process called isostatic rebound, in which the land rises after the surface loses weight.
Imagine pressing a sponge and watching it spring back up when you stop. The Earth's crust works the same way. When heavy stuff like rocks and ice are removed, the ground slowly rises like a sponge.
Everest’s ground started rising when two rivers, Arun and Kosi, met about 89,000 years ago. The rivers carried away lots of dirt and rocks, making the mountain grow taller, up to 2 millimetres each year.
And it’s not just Everest—land in Scandinavia rises too because the ice melts. Nature is pretty awesome, right?
Experts' opinion on this.
Some experts are unsure about the latest study on Mount Everest. They are uncertain if the timing of the rivers’ merging is right and think the researchers might have made some guesses. They believe more research is needed before reaching a final conclusion.
