每日英語跟讀 Ep.1019: Mount Everest higher than thought, say Nepal and China 聖母峰長高了 尼泊爾與中國共同宣布

Mount Everest is higher than previously thought, Nepal and China said on Tuesday, settling a long-running conflict over the height of the world’s tallest peak that straddles their shared border.

尼泊爾與中國上週二表示，跨越兩國邊界的聖母峰，其高度比原先所認為的還要高，解決了兩國長久以來對這世界最高峰高度的歧見。

Kathmandu and Beijing had differed over its exact height but after each sent an expedition of surveyors to the summit they have agreed that the official height is 8,848.86m, a bit more than their previous calculations.

加德滿都及北京對聖母峰的實際高度有不同的說法，但在各自派出勘測考察隊到峰頂後，他們同意，聖母峰的正式高度為八千八百四十八點八六公尺，比之前的計算還要高一些。

Nepal had never previously measured the height of Mount Everest on its own but had used the 8,848 meters estimate made by the Survey of India in 1954 that includes snow.

尼泊爾過去從未自行測量過聖母峰的高度，但過去是引用一九五四年印度測量局所估計的八千八百四十八公尺，這是將積雪的高度也計算在內。

A Chinese measurement in 2005 determined that the rock height of the summit was 8,844.43m, about 3.7m less than the 1954 estimate.

中國在二○○五年測定，峰頂的岩石高度為八千八百四十四點四三公尺，比一九五四年的估計少了約三點七公尺。

Mountaineers had suggested a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in 2015 which killed nearly 9,000 people in Nepal may have altered the height of Everest.

登山家曾提出看法，認為在二○一五年造成尼泊爾近九千人喪生的七點八級地震，可能改變了聖母峰的高度。

Nepal, which is home to another seven of the world’s 14 highest peaks, sent its first team of surveyors in May last year to measure Everest.

世界上最高的十四座山峰，有七座是位於尼泊爾境內。尼泊爾去年五月首次派遣了一批勘測員來測量聖母峰。

Damodar Dhakal, spokesman for Nepal’s Department of Survey, said the Nepali surveyors had used the Global Navigation Satellite System to get “the precise height” of the giant peak.

尼泊爾測量部發言人達莫達爾‧達卡爾表示，尼泊爾勘測員使用了衛星導航系統，來測得這巨大山峰的「精確高度」。

Many Western climbers use the slightly greater height of 8,850m determined in 1999 by the National Geographic Society and Boston’s Museum of Science, in a survey that used satellite-based technology to measure the peak.

許多西方登山者所引用的高度較高，為八千八百五十公尺，此高度為一九九九年國家地理學會及波士頓科學博物館以衛星相關技術所測定。

Everest has been climbed 10,184 times by 5,789 people from both sides since it was first scaled by New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953, according to the Himalayan Database, which maintains records on climbs. At least 311 people have died on its slopes.

喜馬拉雅資料庫記載攀登的資料，其數據顯示，自一九五三年紐西蘭人艾德蒙‧希拉里爵士及雪巴人丹增‧諾蓋首次登頂以來，已有五千七百八十九人借道中國或尼泊爾，攀登聖母峰共一萬零一百八十四次。至少有三百一十一人死於通往聖母峰頂的山坡上。

Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2020/12/14/2003748655