On June 25, an unusual and spectacular sight was revealed over the Atacama Desert in Chile, the driest place on Earth: the region was covered in snow. This rare natural phenomenon has attracted the attention of scientists and meteorologists around the world, reports Focus.
The snowfall is so exceptional that experts say it is the first such event in decades. NASA's Terra satellite captured the snowy landscape and provided visual evidence of this extraordinary climate phenomenon, reports DailyGalaxy.
Why is snow in Atacama so unusual?
The Atacama Desert is located between the Andes and the Pacific coast of Chile. It is considered the driest place on the planet due to a unique combination of geographical and climatic factors. The most important of these is the so-called rain shadow effect created by the high peaks of the Andes.
As moist air from the Pacific rises over the mountain range, it cools and releases most of its moisture as precipitation. By the time the air descends to the Atacama, it is already extremely dry. The result is an almost completely waterless environment.
The cold Humboldt Current
Another key factor in the dryness of the region is the Humboldt Current, a cold ocean current that brings cool water from the South Pacific to the coast of Chile. This current inhibits the formation of rain clouds and further intensifies the aridity of the climate.
Due to these conditions, precipitation in the Atacama is extremely rare and in some places it can be absent for years. That's why any hint of moisture, like the recent snowfall, is perceived as a significant event not only for local residents, but also for the scientific community, which sees it as an opportunity to study climate change and local weather anomalies.