The Atacama Desert in Chile contains weather stations that have never recorded a single drop of rain in more than a century of measurement, yet a thin fog called camanchaca rolls in from the Pacific o
The Atacama Desert in Chile is one of the driest places on Earth, yet it supports life through a unique coastal fog known as camanchaca. This moisture allows cacti and lichens to thrive despite decades without measurable rainfall.
Why it matters
Understanding how ecosystems adapt to extreme aridity provides insights into biological resilience and climate adaptation strategies.
Curiosities The Atacama Desert in Chile contains weather stations that have never recorded a single drop of rain in more than a century of measurement, yet a thin fog called camanchaca rolls in from the Pacific often enough that lichens and cacti pull moisture straight from the air In the driest desert on Earth, some weather stations have never recorded a drop of rain — yet lichens and cacti thrive by pulling water directly from a coastal fog called camanchaca.
At weather stations scattered across the interior of Chile’s Atacama Desert, the rain gauges have sat empty for so long that some meteorological records show years, even decades, of continuous zeros. The instruments work. The technicians visit. The pages are turned. The number does not change.
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