Rain Turns Earth’s Driest Desert Into A Pink Wonderland

Published 9 years ago

Deserts are dry, lifeless places, unless unexpected rain makes them bloom. The Atacama desert in Chile is now uncharacteristically full of flowers. Normally, it is the world’s driest non-arctic desert. But now, after heavy rains hit the province, flowers that laid dormant waiting for water are blooming.

“The intensity of blooms this year has no precedent,” Daniel Diaz, the National Tourism Service director in Atacama, told the EFE news agency. “And the fact that it has happened twice in a same year has never been recorded in the country’s history. We are surprised.” The region is reliant on mining, but it can now expect about 20,000 tourists to come see the blooms. The revenue will help the people recover from the damage caused by the heavy rains.

More info: EFE (h/t: boredpanda)

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