TOP PEAKS.Mount Everest, undisputed mountain king, just got taller. Last May, a team of climbers This list of climbers includes both mountaineers and rock climbers, since many (though not all) climbers engage in both types of activities. The list also includes boulderers and ice climbers. reached and measured Everest's summit at 8,850 meters (29,035 feet) above sea level--two meters higher than the last measurement conducted in 1954. Is Everest growing? Possibly, says Allen Carroll of the National Geographic Society National Geographic Society U.S. scientific society founded in 1888 in Washington, D.C., by a small group of eminent explorers and scientists “for the increase and diffusion of geographic knowledge. , who oversaw the measuring project. But more likely, he says, the mountain was measured with better accuracy thanks to new altitude-measurement technology. Climbers used Global Positioning System Global Positioning System: see navigation satellite. Global Positioning System (GPS) Precise satellite-based navigation and location system originally developed for U.S. military use. (GPS) receivers, which pick up radio signals from satellites orbiting Earth. The climbers used the receivers to detect their exact latitude, longitude longitude (lŏn`jĭt  d'), angular distance on the earth's surface measured along any latitude line such as the equator east or west of the prime meridian. , and altitude (height) on Earth by comparing the receivers' location to satellites' positions in space. [GRAPH OMITTED] |
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