The height of Mount Qomolangma is one of the most fascinating questions in geography. Every time its measurement makes a splash across the world. On December 8th, 2020, China and Nepal agreed on a new official height for Mount Qomolangma, ending a long-running dispute over the exact height of the world’s tallest mountain.
珠穆拉瑪峰的確切高度是地理學上最引人入勝的問題之一，每次它的高度測定都會在全世界引起轟動。2020年12月8日，中國和尼泊爾就珠穆朗瑪峰新的官方高度達成一致，結束了關於世界最高峰確切高度的長期爭議。
The mountain is officially 8,848.86 meters, according to the number agreed upon by both countries. That’s 86 centimeters higher than the measurement made by the Survey of India in 1954, which has been the widely accepted number ever since. Since then, there have been a bunch of other surveys which found slightly different measurements.
根據兩國一致確定的數字，珠穆拉瑪峰的官方海拔為8848.86米。這一數字比1954年由印度測繪局測得並在之後得到世界廣泛認可的數字高出86釐米。從那以後，多次測量的結果出現了一些細微不同。
So how to measure a mountain?
那麼如何測量一座山的高度呢？
The main technique that's been used for hundreds of years is trigonometry, to be precise. Surveyors measure two points on the ground and from each point they measure the angle between them and the top of the mountain to give them a triangle. Using those triangles and the laws of trigonometry, they can calculate the height of the mountain.
準確地說，三角學是測量山峰中運用的主要方法，已被使用了數百年。測量員在地面上測量兩個點，從每個點測量它們與山頂之間的夾角，從而得到一個三角形。利用三角定律，測量員便能計算出山峰的高度。
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The first person to measure Mount Qomolangma using that method was George Everest back in 1856. To get the angles, he had to use theodolites, which weighed about 500 kilos. As a result, the Great Trigonometric Survey of British India has pegged the mountain, known to them as Peak XV and later named after Sir George Everest, at 29,002 feet.
首次利用這種方法測量珠穆朗瑪峰的人是1856年的喬治·額菲爾士。為了測得三角形夾角，他不得不使用重達500公斤的經緯儀進行測量。利用大三角測量法，英屬印度測量局測得珠穆拉瑪峰的海拔為29002英尺。當時他們將珠峰稱為「第十五峰」，而後又以額菲爾士爵士的名字重新命名該山。
Fast forward to the 1950s, and surveyors got a bit of help from photogrammetry, detailed photos taken from the air that they could use to measure heights and distances.
到了20世紀50年代，測量員們從攝影測量學中得到啟發，利用從空中拍攝的高清照片來測量山峰的高度和距離。
Now people have even fancier technology to measure mountains — the Global Positioning System or GPS. Surveyors can bring a GPS receiver to the top of the mountain, where satellites in space can pick up their location and work out the height, again, using triangles.
如今，人們利用更先進的技術來測量山峰——全球定位系統（GPS）。測量員將GPS接收器帶至山頂，太空中的衛星可以接收到它們的位置，計算出山峰高度。異曲同工的是，該方法也是利用三角形原理。
The 1954 measurement included the mountain’s snow-cap, but China came up with a shorter measurement in 2005, when it excluded the cap. In 2020, China and Nepal finally agreed to re-measure the mountain from the top to the mean sea level, using GPS and the latest surveying equipment. They spent two years training a team for the project, then placed several markers around the mountain and another at the very top to come up with the new number.
1954年的測量包括了珠峰雪頂部分的高度，但中國在2005年提出了一種更精簡的測量方法，能減去雪頂部分的高度。2020年，中國和尼泊爾同意使用GPS和最新的測量設備重新測量珠峰從山頂到平均海平面的高度。為此，雙方耗時兩年培訓測量團隊，並在珠峰四周和山頂分別進行標記，從而測得新的數字。
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There's debate over whether you should count the snow on top, or just the rock underneath. And there's a possibility that the height has actually changed because of erosion and earthquakes. In fact, scientists reckon this earthquake in Nepal in 2015 might have knocked some height off this very high mountain.
關於是否應該計入山頂的積雪厚度，或是僅僅計算以下巖石部分的高度，還沒有最終的定論。同時，侵蝕和地震也是導致珠峰高度發生變化的可能原因。事實上，科學家們認為，2015年發生的尼泊爾地震可能導致了世界最高峰的高度有所下降。
With no climbers around due to the pandemic, scientists regarded it the perfect time for a re-measure. The team of surveyors that worked out the new height of the mountain is the first and the only group to summit Qomolangma in 2020. Let’s remember the height of the world’s highest mountain — 8848.86 meters.
由於疫情的到來，珠峰的攀登者變得寥寥，這為珠峰高度的測量提供了獨特的契機。此次測出珠峰新高度的測量隊是2020年首支也是唯一一支成功登頂珠峰的隊伍。讓我們記住世界最高峰的高度——8848.86米吧！