Mountain Everest vs Nanga Parbat: Exciting 'highest mountain' race on Earth

Neighbouring Nepal’s most famous landmark, Mount Everest has been the tallest mountain above sea level in the world since recorded human history. The majestic Himalayan mountain towers at a phenomenal 8,848.86 metres (over 8.8 kilometres). It also divides two major regions of the world with the China-Nepal border running through its summit.

Mount Everest is the stuff of legends today and continues to grow at 4 mm or around 0.16 inches per year. However, its peaks were once on the floor of the ocean until around 200 million years ago. But around the time when the dinosaurs of the Jurassic era walked on earth, the supercontinent pangea split into parts and the Indian continent broke away to impact into another part and make Asia of today.

The Himalayas gradually rose from the ocean floor to an elevation of 5,000 metres by 15-17 million years from today. However, the majestic Mount Everest will most likely not be the tallest mountain in the world forever.

Its closest rival is Nanga Parbat, located in the Himalayas of Pakistan. The eight-thousander stands at 8,126 metres currently but is growing 3 mm quicker than Everest annually. Its 7 mm growth rate means that Nanga Parbat could potentially overtake Mount Everest as the world’s tallest mountain in precisely 2,41,000 years. However, there’s a catch. Soil erosion could impact this figure.

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