A Higher Himalayas

[Jdailey1991]

At 29,029 feet above sea level, Mount Everest has been credited as the tallest mountain on Earth.

The only problem is that Mauna Kea, Hawaii's highest point, is 33,500 feet tall from top to bottom, and most of that is below sea level.

So if the Himalayas stand 33,500 feet above sea level, would it create any noticeable differences on the climate and geography?

 

[ThinkerX]

Deeper oceans, what amounts to bigger volcanoes, and now taller mountains. World building details, get right down to it. Does any of this directly affect your story?

 

[Velka]

I agree. I invested a substantial amount of time and mental energy into your question about deeper oceans because it was an idea that intrigued me and allowed me to use a very specialized bit of knowledge I am interested in.

However, all your follow up questions seem to be leading to a point which is unknown. What exactly are you aiming for? Perhaps sharing your end goal would get you more concise and focused answer.

 

[Jdailey1991]

It was for an alternate history textbook, which by itself is intended to be a blueprint for any future stories that I write.

 

[CupofJoe]

The Himalayas are enormous already in length and height. A change of only 3-4000 feet in the highest point would probably not make much difference in the climate or geography of the region. The Tibetan plateau would probably be only a few hundred feet higher, so a little bit colder and drier but it is fairly cold and dry and high already. The rain shadow across China would be about the same but it is large anyway.
The monsoon rains to the south would still be affected by the mountains so India and the rest of the subcontinent would still get the floods and huge rivers.

 

[Russ]

The Himalayas are enormous already in length and height. A change of only 3-4000 feet in the highest point would probably not make much difference in the climate or geography of the region. The Tibetan plateau would probably be only a few hundred feet higher, so a little bit colder and drier but it is fairly cold and dry and high already. The rain shadow across China would be about the same but it is large anyway.
The monsoon rains to the south would still be affected by the mountains so India and the rest of the subcontinent would still get the floods and huge rivers.

I think COJ is bang on. There is almost nothing living up there now, and I don't think that if the tip of a few mountains were 10-20% taller it would have much environmental impact beyond local weather systems.

 

[Devor]

It would depend on whether we talking about the mountain peaks or if the entire plateau were raised proportionately. I would think Nepal and Bhutan would likely be hurt by higher elevations. Similarly, the higher the elevation, the higher the percentage of Tibet that becomes relatively uninhabitable. But as others have said, it's hard to know exactly how large or small the effect of a few hundred feet would be. And while it would be a huge difference for those areas in the real world, it would likely be too small to make a difference in any kind of world building.