A view of the flower-covered Atacama Desert, photographed in Copiapo, Chile, on July 10, 2024. The Atacama Desert, the driest desert on Earth, was covered in purple and white flowers for kilometres this week. (Photo: AFP)
July 12, 2024
COPIAPO, Chile (AFP) — Unusual rainfall patterns in northern Chile have blanketed large swaths of the Atacama Desert, the driest on Earth, in purple and white flowers.
These desert algae blooms typically occur in the southern spring once every few years, covering thousands of square kilometers of land when conditions are right.
But experts say the flowers have begun to bloom this winter, something not seen since 2015.
“We are pleased to be working with such a diverse range of organisations to bring this about,” said César Pizarro, biodiversity conservation manager at the National Forestry Service.
AFP reported that 11-12mm (about half an inch) of rainfall in April, along with “very heavy, low-lying cloud cover in the region that soaked the ground every night, helped revitalize the plants.”
While the desert famous for its spring blooms covers 15,000 square kilometers (5,800 square miles), these winter blooms only cover an area of a few hundred square kilometers.
When the flowers are in full bloom, there will be over 200 species of plants in bloom, and recent weather conditions seem to be mainly suited to the “Pata de Guanaco,” a purple flower that requires very little water and prefers sandy soil.
Pizarro said scientists have yet to determine whether the phenomenon, which was also recorded in the winter of 2015, “is directly related to climate change or whether it has something to do with the El Niño or La Niña phenomena.”
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