The Himalayas are the world’s highest mountain range. They are also the youngest. Like any adolescent youth, this mountain range is continuously growing and changing every year. The current highest point of the range is at 29, 035 feet above sea level. This is a full 7 feet higher than the previous record. Professor Bradford Washburn of the Boston Museum of Science, along with his team, helped determine the new height of Mount Everest. They also propounded that the mountains are growing at a rate of 2.4inches/6.1cms every year.
The Himalayas, or the Abode of Snow as per its Sanskrit nomenclature, were formed when the Indian tectonic plate collided into the Eurasian plate. Since both the plates were composed of relatively similar lightweight rocks, their edges folded upwards to create the mountain range. As the plates continue to move with the Indian plate still pushing in, the Himalayas continue to rise every year.
