What is special about Atacama Desert?

The Atacama is the oldest desert on Earth and has experienced semiarid conditions for roughly the past 150 million years, according to a paper in the November 2018 issue of Nature. The average temperature in the desert is about 63 degrees F (18 degrees C).

Why is the Atacama Desert so dry for kids?

Why is the Atacama desert so dry? Since it is a part of the Andes Mountain Ranges Volcanic Belt, ground water storage is low, due to extremely high temperatures below the ground.

Why is Atacama Desert famous?

The Atacama Desert is commonly known as the driest place in the world, especially the surroundings of the abandoned Yungay town (in Antofagasta Region, Chile). The average rainfall is about 15 mm (0.6 in) per year, although some locations receive 1 to 3 mm (0.04 to 0.12 in) in a year.

Why is Atacama Desert so high?

As pictured above, the prevailing south-east trade winds carrying moist air are forced to rise. The moisture condenses, and falls on the opposite side of the Andes to the Atacama. This is commonly known as a rain shadow. The second reason is high air pressure.

What kind of people live in the Atacama Desert?

The Atacama people, also called Atacameño, are indigenous people from the Atacama Desert and altiplano region in the north of Chile and Argentina and southern Bolivia.

Is Atacama a cold desert?

The Atacama Desert is actually a really cold place with temperatures ranging from 0 to 30 degrees. Three countries fought the War of the Pacific in the 1880s for control of the desert.

Is the Atacama Desert the driest place on Earth?

The driest place on earth is the Atacama Desert in Chile. It is a plateau that occupies a 600 mile strip of the Pacific coast on the western side of Andes Mountains. It is the only true desert on Earth that receives lower moisture than all the polar deserts.

Does the Atacama Desert have lots of vegetation?

Interior part of this region consists of craters, rocks, and loose sand, where vegetation is not possible . Atacama desert plants are so rare, that you won’t come across a single blade of grass or cactus stump, or a lizard, or a gnat, for thousands of miles, while traveling through these virtually lifeless plains.

Is the Atacama Desert located near the equator?

Atacama desert As a definition, a desert is a hot area of land that gets very little rain – not more than 200mm a year, where temperatures during the daytime can get as high as 55°C. At night, deserts cool down, sometimes even below 0°C. Most deserts lie between 15° and 35° north and south of the equator.