Mt. Everest Essay Example
Mount Everest
Everest is the highest mountain in the world standing a stunning 8848m (29,028ft) above sea level. Interestingly, some claims have been made for other mountains having this honour. Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador, for example, is actually the furthest point on the surface of the Earth from its centre. This is due to the way the earth bulges at the equator, putting Chimborazo's peak at 6,384.4km from the middle of the globe1. However, Chimborazo only stands a titchy 2,168m high from sea level; this makes it not even the highest peak in the Andes and less than a quarter of the height of Everest.
Meanwhile, Mauna Kea in Hawaii is probably the tallest as it rises from the sea bed to its peak in one continuous slope to top out at 10,203m from its base. Still, Everest is double Mauna Kea's height of 4,205m from sea level which is generally the baseline the record book people use to determine who wins. People point out the fact that the deepest point on Earth, the Challenger Deep section of the Mariana Trench, is 10,923m below sea level. The whole of Everest could fit into it with over 2km spare. But that's not the point; Everest is still the highest mountain in a world of titchy mountains. Earth is actually a world of small mountains. Olympus Mons, the highest mountain on Mars, for example, is 21,171m high - over double Everest's height.
Facts about Mt. Everest * Tallest mountain in the world. * Number of people to attempt to climb Mt. Everest: approximately 4,000. * Number of people to successfully climb Mt. Everest: 660. * Number of people who have died trying to climb Mt. Everest: 142. * Height: 29,028 feet, or 5 and a half miles above sea level. This is equivalent to the size of almost 20 Empire State Buildings. * Location: part of the Himalaya mountain range; straddles border of Nepal and Tibet. * Named for: Sir George Everest, a British surveyor-general
Everest is the highest mountain in the world standing a stunning 8848m (29,028ft) above sea level. Interestingly, some claims have been made for other mountains having this honour. Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador, for example, is actually the furthest point on the surface of the Earth from its centre. This is due to the way the earth bulges at the equator, putting Chimborazo's peak at 6,384.4km from the middle of the globe1. However, Chimborazo only stands a titchy 2,168m high from sea level; this makes it not even the highest peak in the Andes and less than a quarter of the height of Everest.
Meanwhile, Mauna Kea in Hawaii is probably the tallest as it rises from the sea bed to its peak in one continuous slope to top out at 10,203m from its base. Still, Everest is double Mauna Kea's height of 4,205m from sea level which is generally the baseline the record book people use to determine who wins. People point out the fact that the deepest point on Earth, the Challenger Deep section of the Mariana Trench, is 10,923m below sea level. The whole of Everest could fit into it with over 2km spare. But that's not the point; Everest is still the highest mountain in a world of titchy mountains. Earth is actually a world of small mountains. Olympus Mons, the highest mountain on Mars, for example, is 21,171m high - over double Everest's height.
Facts about Mt. Everest * Tallest mountain in the world. * Number of people to attempt to climb Mt. Everest: approximately 4,000. * Number of people to successfully climb Mt. Everest: 660. * Number of people who have died trying to climb Mt. Everest: 142. * Height: 29,028 feet, or 5 and a half miles above sea level. This is equivalent to the size of almost 20 Empire State Buildings. * Location: part of the Himalaya mountain range; straddles border of Nepal and Tibet. * Named for: Sir George Everest, a British surveyor-general