World's Driest Hot Desert Is Transformed Into A Rare And Fleeting, Bright Fuchsia

The Atacama Desert in Chile might be one of the driest places on the planet, but even this barren landscape can occasionally bloom into a sea of colorful flowers – and right now it's at its peak. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

The desert bloom phenomenon sees a vast and vibrant carpet of flowers appear in the world’s driest nonpolar desert, triggered by a typically rare combination of the right temperature, amount of sunlight, and heavy rainfall. These rains tend to be tied to the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a climate pattern that can bring with it extreme weather.

After unusual recent downpours – the Atacama has an average of just 2 millimeters (0.08 inches) of rain a year, but some high-elevation regions