You've Been Lied to About Mount Everest

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Thoughty2 (Arran) is a British YouTuber and gatekeeper of useless facts. Thoughty2 creates mind-blowing factual videos about science, tech, history, opinion and just about everything else.
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Writing: Steven Rix
Editing: Sandeep Rai

[PabloP]

I am 80, and I was always taught that Montains were measured as height above sea level. So I wasn't lied to.

[hussassain]

Certified thoughty2 all time classic, “ always measure base to tip” almost made me shed a tear with its aptness

[doubleh]

We could say Mauna Kea is the "tallest", Chimbarazo is the "highest" and Everest is the "longest to climb".

[denisf]

Mount Everest is the highest peak when considering altitude within the atmosphere, and it feels the most otherworldly because it is the closest to the point where the atmosphere ends and space begins

[GMPranav]

Huge respect to the cartographers for completing such a mammoth task. Even today, surveying India is a pain in the ass. The Indian government employees who work to do census is more than the entire population of some countries.

[thequantumnexus]

I think furthest into the atmosphere is probably best considered highest. Which generally means from sea level, since that's where the atmosphere starts and is our basis for our environment. So Mt Everest still holds it.

[its_dey_mate]

There's something about this channel I can't describe in a good way of course. Whatever it is, keep doing it mate!

[lastnamefirstname]

Including the part of the mountain under water is like if you measured Everest from where it joins the tectonic plate. If the ocean weren't there it'd be taller. Yes and if we theoretically excavated 3km of earth from the base of Everest it'd be 3km taller. Can't climb that part.

[DubLubb]

Denali is actually the most impressive elevation gain over a short distance, often referred to as "geographic relief." It rises 18, 000 feet in about 10 miles from its northern base. That's about a 30° pitch on average. Mauna Kea rises farther above the sea floor (some 33, 000 ft) but takes a far more gradual approach over about 60 miles distance to do it giving an average pitch of just 10°. That's a very gradual, rounded dome. The Rakhiot face of Nanga Parbat rises 23, 000 ft from the Indus River Valley over about 17 miles of horizontal distance which is a mile greater than Denali's prominence but still a gentler slope.

[rongenung]

I don't care where the mountain's base is, Everest reaches higher into the sky i.e. its altitude is higher. But I understand your point.

[OJsY]

But why mauna kea is considered as beginning underwater instead of the island it’s sitting on beginning underwater? Seems like the only reason Everest isn’t considered starting underwater is just because the ocean is farther away, but at some point the earth under Everest IS starting underwater

[anshuuu]

A short note to the people who'll see this in future, the original name of this video was
*"Your geography teacher lied to you"*

And if Everest were to measured the way you measured Mt.K, it wouldn't even stand close
Edit :- *"Geography Is a Lie"*
Second Edit :- Reverted to
*"Your Geo. Teacher lied to you"*

Third :- *You've been lied to about Mount Everest*

[Lukas]

I love how he puts a clickbait title and photo on every single one of his videos, but the content within actually delivers and does not disappoint.

[rojanshrestha]

PLEASE STOP MISLEADING.

Mount Kanchenjunga, the third tallest mountain in the world, is in Nepal— not in India.

[timothyepotts]

I've climbed Mt. Lamlam in Guam (US). Although it's peak is only 1, 332 ft above sea level, Mt. Lamlam's base originates at the bottom of Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, making it the tallest mountain in the world, at 11, 530m tall. I thought for sure this video would have mentioned Mt. Lamlam, but it didn't.

[Boxaxel]

well if you count whats under water, how do you know when to stop? where is the natureal place of "hey, this is the bottom of the mountain?", like the sea is when measuring peaks. plus, even if there was such a line, couldn't you technically count the depth of the waters around afro-eurasia into mount everest's height then aswell, meaning it is still taller than that hawaiian mountain

[carlh-thehermitwithwi-fi]

i think this video is fun! "How we measure it matters"

As a science major - i agree. Isn't that why the ISO standards were designed, so YOUR don't measure it THIS way, but we all make an agreement to measure it THAT way?

[mitch_sorenstein]

You missed McKinley. Mount McKinley, the mountain itself base to peak, not adding the range it sits atop, is the tallest mountain in the world that's fully above water. Every other mountain either cheats by using its range as a step-stool, or is underwater.

[aniinnrchoque]

The point of "highest mountain" is from sea level that's pretty much undisputed. That's because it's the main metric of where dry land can conventionally begin and thus the atmosphere can become thinner
The relative ratio to the core arguably doesn't matter, add on top the fact that the atmosphere stretches along the equator as well, so you'd need longer to reach space proper as compared if you jetted off from the poles.

[OnBoard_PistoNs]

Just to be clear, Mt. Kanchanjunga also lies in Nepal. There are 8 of the 10 highest 8000meters tall mountains only in Nepal.