Diehard scientific positivism is confusing the public by constantly revising the height of Chomolongma. On behalf of the peoples of the world, it is time to call a halt to this tomfoolery.
In August of 1994, the China State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping reported its latest measurement of Chomolongma/ Sagarmatha/Everest. The venerable mountain, it was revealed, is shorter than the 8848 metres it has been credited with all these years. Tobe precise, the previous height of 8848.13 m as ascertained by the Bureau in 1975 had not taken into account the depth of snow on the summit. And so, when the re-measurement was done recently using a satellite-aided global positioning system and laser measurement technology, the level of snow was also discounted.Of the 8848.82m that was calculated, 2.55 metres was subtracted for the snow deposit on the summit. This snow depth was determined by the tried and tested method of sinking a steel rod into the snow. Everest stands at exactly 8846.27 m, the Bureau reported.
One would immediately like to question, when confronted with this assertion, why this micro-specificity down to the last centimetre about a mountain which by its very loftiness makes such an exercise seem slightly ridiculous. As we delve deeper, the exercise actually does begin to look farcical, as should any scientific endeavour taken to illogical limits.
In the case of Everest´s height, it is certainly important to know the exact height of the mountain. However, it seems that our friends in Beijing have gone overboard in decreeing a specific height when, as we shall see, the debate has not even begun as to the approach tobetakento measure the last few inches and centimetres of mountain-tops. If the Bureau had chosen not to go to down to the second decimal point, there would have been no reason to fault it.