ENVIRONMENT

After intense and unexpected rain fell in the north of Chile, parts of the usually arid Atacama desert have turned into a carpet of flowers. (BBC)

What other deserts experience periodic “superblooms”?

Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources in our Teachers Toolkit.

Discussion Ideas

• The BBC article calls the Atacama Desert the “world’s driest place.” How dry is it?
  • Very! The Atacama is actually the world’s driest non-polar desert. Regions of both the Atacama and Antarctica have never experienced rain in their recorded histories.
    • Learn more about the Atacama, Antarctica, and the rest of Earth’s Extremes here.

 

• Why is the Atacama blooming now?
  • Northern Chile experienced unusually intense rainfall earlier this year.
    According to the BBC, the “desierto florido (flowering desert) phenomenon usually occurs every five to seven years when rains cause buried seeds to germinate and flower.”
    • Learn more about desert “superblooms” here!

 

• What plant life normally survives the arid Atacama?
  • Well, the dormant seeds that flower during a desierto florido event are still alive during the Atacama’s arid periods. They’re just not blooming!
  • Besides the dormant flower seeds, hundreds of plants have adapted to life in the high desert. These include dozens of endemic species of drought-tolerant plants such as cacti, saltgrass, and succulents.
  • Perhaps the most famous of the Atacama’s plant community is the yareta—what appears as a blob of bright green slime is actually the world’s highest-elevation woody plant. To conserve resources such as heat, moisture, and energy, the yareta is very dense and grows very slowly—a little more than one centimeter a year.

 

TEACHERS TOOLKIT

BBC: Chile’s Atacama desert: World’s driest place in bloom after surprise rain

Nat Geo: Death Valley is Full of Life

Nat Geo: Earth’s Extremes

WWF: Ecoregions—Western South America: Northwestern Chile