The world's driest desert turns into a sea of ​​colorful flowers

A sea of ​​flowers suddenly bloomed in the desert land of Chile, which has almost no rain all year round.

Chile’s Atacama Desert, considered by NASA to be the driest place on Earth, transformed almost overnight from a barren wasteland into a sea of ​​colorful flowers. That’s thanks to heavy rains in mid-August that caused thousands of flowers to bloom, according to National Geographic.

This phenomenon, called florido (desert bloom), occurs periodically in the Atacama. The sea of ​​flowers appears every 5-7 years, but this year's bloom is only two years after the previous one (2015).

Officials say more flowers are likely to bloom in the coming weeks as some bloom later than others. More than 200 different flower species can be found in the desert.

The phenomenon of blooming is not unique to the Atacama, but occurs in all deserts with large numbers of perennial flowers. Although they bloom en masse, the flowers often fade quickly due to the harsh desert environment.

Seeds of desert perennials often lie dormant for months or years, barely noticeable. Only when rains wash away the protective shells do the seeds germinate. Chile has had heavy rainfall in early spring, creating ideal conditions for the flowers to bloom several years earlier than expected.

The Atacama Desert is a 1,600 km stretch of land along the northwestern coast of Chile. The desert is so arid that some areas never receive rainfall and very few animals, plants or even bacteria can survive. Perennials and succulents are typically found only in the basins where water accumulates.

According to VNE