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(Mirror Daily, United States) -Atacama desert is officially the ‘Driest Place on Earth’, but the Chilean region has recently turned into an overwhelming mauve carpet of flowers after El Nino storms have covered the valley with water. Based on previous weather reports, there hasn’t been any rain in the Atacama Desert in the past 173 months.
If you happen to be on the lookout for rare phenomena, then this is the right moment to take your camera and travel to the Atacama Desert in Chile. This region was already highly appreciated among nature lovers due to its unpopulated wilderness, but the recent events might just make it the most visited place in Chile in the following months.
There hasn’t been any rain in the desert in the past 173 months, but this is nothing unexpected considering that El Nino is the only one that brings water in the region. The last months have been very humid for the desert and scientists estimate that the amount of water that was poured in one day would normally account for an entire year.
According to statistics, the Atacama Desert has seen 0.9 inches of water during the one-day flooding compared to the 0.13 average that is normally registered in one year. Reports have also stated that nine persons were killed or injured during the flood, while many homes have been destroyed.
Nevertheless, there have been good sides, as well. The Atacama Desert has turned into a surprisingly beautiful mauve carpet after millions of colored flower have begun to bloom. The predominant color, mauve, has a lot to do with the color of the malva flowers, but there are other flower shades in the desert, as well.
Judging from their past behavior, it appears that flowers only bloom in the Atacama Desert once in five to seven years. A closer look at previous weather reports has shown scientists that there is a strong link between their blooming period and the El Nino floods. Scientists believe for that matter that the “most spectacular blossoming of the past 18 years”, as scientists have described it, is caused by large quantities of rain pouring in October.
As unexpected as the phenomenon may be, the ex-Atacama Desert is now a wonderful spectacle for the eye of the beholder. Photographers have already arrived to take pictures of the wonderful Lila field as these seem to have been taken on a surreal land.
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