Mount Everest is growing taller each year and scientists think they’ve finally uncovered the reason why.

Reaching the summit of Everest is a feat many mountaineers aspire to achieve but year-on-year that goal gets, quite literally, further and further away.

When measured from sea level, Everest is the tallest mountain on Planet Earth at 8,849 meters high and over the last 89,000 years, it’s grown by between 15 and 50 meters.

It is thought the Arun River joined up with another river nearby and the new path created the Arun Gorge, located near Everest.

Over millennia, the river systems close to Everest have eroded away billions of tons of sediment, creating a deepening gorge, and it is this erosion that experts believe is causing the mountain to “spring” upwards by as much as two millimeters a year.

Researchers suggest the erosion of so much sediment and earth has caused the land to become lighter, allowing the Earth’s crust to continue to push upwards in a process known as isostatic rebound.

The upward forces now outweigh the forces of gravity, allowing Everest to experience a “growth spurt”.

So, if you want to climb Everest do it soon before it grows any taller!