How to measure a mountain: Everest height called into question

Story highlights Since 1955, Everest's official height has been 8,848 meters Studies show that there might have been some elevation changes over the years In the past, Nepal has rejected height measurements calculated by foreign teams CNN — Did Mount Everest shrink after Nepal’s massive 2015 earthquake? In 1856, Everest’s height was first calculated to be 8,840 meters above sea level by a team led by British surveyor Sir George Everest, the man whom the mountain was named after. ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/AFP/Getty Images “Since multiple scientific studies show that there might have been some changes in the height of Everest, it became the Nepali government’s responsibility to check and clarify the matter,” Ganesh Prasad Bhatta, director general of Nepal’s Survey Department, told CNN. “The team will collect info from stations that’ll be set up every two kilometers starting from Udayapur all the way to Everest’s peak,” Niraj Manandhar, head of Geodetic Survey branch in the department, told CNN.