. 24/7 Space News .
Chinese mountaineers scaling Everest to check if it's rising
  • Parisians brace for flooding risks as Seine creeps higher
  • Volcanos, earthquakes: Is the 'Ring of Fire' alight?
  • Finland's president Niinisto on course for second term
  • Record rain across soggy France keeps Seine rising
  • Record rain across sodden France keeps Seine rising
  • State of emergency as floods worry Paraguay capital
  • Panic and blame as Cape Town braces for water shut-off
  • Fresh tremors halt search ops after Japan volcano eruption
  • Cape Town now faces dry taps by April 12
  • Powerful quake hits off Alaska, but tsunami threat lifted
  • BEIJING (AFP) Mar 20, 2005
    A group of Chinese researchers have set off on an expedition to check a theory that Mount Everest is growing by about one centimeter (0.4 inch) a year, state media reported Sunday.

    Twenty-nine scientists and mountaineers were taking part in the mission to remeasure the world's tallest peak, the Xinhua news agency said.

    The official height of the mountain, straddling China's border with Nepal, is currently 8,848 meters (29,500 feet).

    It will be China's fourth such expedition following others in 1959, 1966 and 1975.

    This time, the scientists would focus on the damage caused to the area by global warming in the past 30 years, Xinhua said.

    "The re-survey of the region will help (us) understand the mountain's reaction to global climate change," expedition captain Kang Shichang was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

    Chinese state media last year reported that a staggering seven percent of the country's glaciers were vanishing annually under the sweltering sun, including those covering Everest.

    Leading glacier expert Yan Tandong said as many as 64 percent of China's glaciers may be gone by 2050 if current trends continue.




    All rights reserved. copyright 2018 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.