The Atacama Desert is commonly known as the driest place in the world, especially the surroundings of the abandoned Yungay town (in Antofagasta Region, Chile). The
average rainfall is about 15 mm (0.6 in) per year
, although some locations receive 1 to 3 mm (0.04 to 0.12 in) in a year.
Why does the Atacama Desert receive little rainfall?
This dry air has almost no water vapor so it can be easily heated by the sun, causing high ground temperatures with very low humidity. Another reason that the Atacama doesn’t get enough rainfall is
because of a phenomenon called rainshadow
.
Why is Atacama the driest desert?
Why is the Atacama Desert so dry? The Atacama Desert is located in a zone called the “shadow of rain”. … Basically,
there is an absence of rains and high evaporation
. These natural, complex, and dynamic factors make the Atacama Desert an incredibly dry place.
How much precipitation does the Atacama Desert receive?
Take, for example, Chile’s Atacama Desert. Widely considered the driest place in the world, it has an average rainfall of as little as 0.04 inches per year and meaningful rainfall
of about 1.5 inches
(enough to leave short-lived shallow lagoons) only once per century on average.
Does the Atacama Desert receive rain?
There is a wide network of weather stations in the region, but many stations in the
Atacama never recorded any rain
. Geological studies reveal the desert did not receive any rainfall between 1570 and 1971. One feels a chill in the desert even during the day time — as it’s located on a high altitude.
Is there any life in the Atacama Desert?
The climate of the Atacama Desert limits the number of animals living permanently in this extreme ecosystem. Some parts of the desert are so arid,
no plant or animal life can survive
. … Red scorpions also live in the desert.
Do humans live in the Atacama Desert?
Surprisingly,
around one million people
call the Atacama Desert home. Crowding into coastal fishing villages, mining areas and oasis towns. Inhabitants grow dry-weather produce such as olives, tomatoes and cucumbers, and herd alpacas for a living.
Where on Earth has no rain?
The driest place on earth officially is in
the Atacama Desert in Northern Chile and southern Peru
, in western South America (Figure SM4. 3). There are locations in the Atacama that have not received measurable rainfall in decades.
Which is the coldest desert in the world?
The largest desert on Earth is
Antarctica
, which covers 14.2 million square kilometers (5.5 million square miles). It is also the coldest desert on Earth, even colder than the planet’s other polar desert, the Arctic. Composed of mostly ice flats, Antarctica has reached temperatures as low as -89°C (-128.2°F).
What are two important things about the Atacama Desert?
- Driest Desert in the World – Studies conducted by NASA have concluded that this desert located in northern Chile is in fact the driest desert in the world. …
- Rainless (or just about) – Average rainfall in this region is about 1 mm per year.
What is special about the Atacama Desert?
The Atacama is
the oldest desert on Earth
and has experienced semiarid conditions for roughly the past 150 million years, according to a paper in the November 2018 issue of Nature. … The average temperature in the desert is about 63 degrees F (18 degrees C).
What happens when it rain in the Atacama Desert?
After encountering never-before-seen rainfall at the arid core of Chile’s Atacama Desert, a team of planetary astrobiologists found that the
heavy precipitation wiped out most of the microbes that had lived there
. … But the rainfall that created these ponds didn’t result in a bloom of life, the researchers found.
What happened in the Atacama Desert in Chile in 1971?
Flooding
hits Chile’s Atacama desert. The worst flooding in over a decade. Hundreds forced from their homes.
What kind of people live in the Atacama Desert?
The Atacama people, also called Atacameño
, are indigenous people from the Atacama Desert and altiplano region in the north of Chile and Argentina and southern Bolivia.
Is there water in the Atacama Desert?
The Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on earth and
fresh water
, which is critical to the mining process, is a vital resource to be used sparingly.
What is the driest country in the world?
The Atacama Desert in
Chile
, known as the driest place on Earth, is awash with color after a year’s worth of extreme rainfall. In an average year, this desert is a very dry place.
