In this May 27, 2019, file photo, a bird flies with Mount Everest seen in the background from Namche Bajar, Solukhumbu district, Nepal. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha, File)
By Binaj Gurubacharya
China and Nepal jointly announced a new official height for Mount Everest on Tuesday, ending a discrepancy between the two nations.
The new height of the world's highest peak is 8,848.86 meters (29,031.7 feet), which is slightly more than Nepal’s previous measurement and about four meters (13 feet) higher than China’s.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Nepalese counterpart, Pradeep Gyawali, simultaneously pressed buttons during a virtual conference and the new height flashed on the screen.
The height of Everest, which is on the border between China and Nepal, was agreed on after surveyors from Nepal scaled the peak in 2019 and a Chinese team did the same in 2020.
There had been debate over the actual height of the peak and concern that it might have shrunk after a major earthquake in 2015. The quake killed 9,000 people, damaged about 1 million structures in Nepal and triggered an avalanche on Everest that killed 19 people at the base camp.
There was no doubt that Everest would remain the highest peak because the second highest, Mount K2, is only 8,611 meters (28,244 feet) tall.
Everest's height was first determined by a British team around 1856 as 8,842 meters (29,002) feet.
But the most accepted height has been 8,848 meters (29,028 feet), which was determined by the Survey of India in 1954.
In 1999, a National Geographic Society team using GPS technology came up with a height of 8,850 (29,035 feet). A Chinese team in 2005 said it was 8,844.43 meters (29,009 feet) because it did not include the snow cap.
A Nepal government team of climbers and surveyors scaled Everest in May 2019 and installed GPS and satellite equipment to measure the peak and snow depth on the summit.
Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Nepal later that year and the leaders of the two countries decided that they should agree on a height.
A survey team from China then conducted measurements in the spring of 2020 while all other expeditions were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Nepal's climbing community welcomed the end of confusion over the mountain's height.
“This is a milestone in mountaineering history which will finally end the debate over the height and now the world will have one number,” said Santa Bir Lama, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.
China's official Xinhua New Agency quoted Xi as saying the two sides are committed to jointly protecting the environment around Everest and cooperating in scientific research.
For China, the announcement appeared to be as much about politics as geography. China has drawn Nepal ever closer into its orbit with investments in its economy and the building of highways, dams, airports and other infrastructure in the impoverished nation.
That appears to serve China’s interests in reducing the influence of rival India, with which it shares a disputed border, and Nepal’s role as a destination for refugee Tibetans.
The Xinhua report said nothing about the technical aspects but heavily emphasized the joint announcement’s geopolitical weight.
China and Nepal will establish an “even closer community of a shared future to enrich the countries and their peoples,” Xinhua quoted Xi as saying.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Monday laid out a proposal that would require businesses to disclose the emissions they produce. Kathleen Rogers, CEO & President at EARTHDAY.ORG, joined Cheddar News to break down the implications of this historic step.
Deepwell Digital Therapeutics is a game development company looking to transform the way we look at video games — this time to improve health outcomes. Its goal is to create software to aid those who deal with conditions such as depression and ADHD. Company co-founder and co-CEO Ryan Douglas and co-founder Kate Edwards joined Cheddar News to talk about the technology is being used to help patients. "From a research perspective, the game industry itself has been well aware for many, many years of the kind of inherent, kind of anecdotal therapeutic value of playing games," said Edwards.
Catching you up on what you Need to Know on Mar 21, 2022, with updates on the Russian invasion in Ukraine, a Boeing 737-800 plane carrying 132 people crashed in China, Canadian Pacific rail workers on strike, another possible COVID surge, and the SEC's new climate rules for businesses.
The Bill Gates-founded Breakthrough Energy company invested $80 million in Verdox Inc. to facilitate efficient, lower-cost technolog to remove carbon from the air and emission sources. CEO of Verdox, Brian Baynes, joined Cheddar News to discuss the investment, how the company's tech works, and where he sees it going. "We anticipate that with technologies like ours, we potentially can get to the scale of about a million tons per year within 5-10 years," he said. "And then ultimately we need to be doing this at the scales of billions of tons per year and ultimately about 10 billion tons per year in the year 2050."
As the Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, medical experts are worried conditions in active warzones will exacerbate the current pandemic — or even give rise to other contagions. Dr. Daniel Fagbuyi, a war veteran and former Obama administration biodefense appointee, joined Cheddar News to discuss the ongoing danger of COVID-19 on top of the war, as well as the potential for new variants to emerge. "I mean just large volumes of people definitely is a breeding ground. That's the worst case," he said. "Two things don't mix: war-conflict and a virus, a potential pandemic virus."
Medical cannabis company Akanda went public this week in what was the first traditional IPO of the month. Shares jumped about 163% in the stock's first day of trading. The London-based company says it hopes to supply medical cannabis products to wholesalers in international markets. Tej Virk, CEO of Akanda, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
