O atacama it is a desert located in the northern region of Chile, in South America, being popularly known as the driest desert on earth and also the place whose landscape most resembles the surface of Mars.
To understand how the Atacama Desert came about and what characterizes its climate, it is necessary to understand the effects of ocean currents on the climate and, more precisely, a current that crosses the Pacific Ocean on the west coast of South America, the Humboldt current.
This current is of the cold type, as it originates in Antarctica and moves towards the equator, generating a lot of moisture wherever it goes, mainly in Chilean territory. With that, the coastal precipitation is very accentuated, making the air that moves to the interior of the continent very dry, which is confirmed by the 2400 m of altitude of the desert responsible for hindering the arrival of air humid. On the east side of the desert, there is still a strong natural barrier, the Andes Mountains, which prevents the arrival of humid air coming mainly from the Amazon. Due to these characteristics, a very dry region is formed, which is the Atacama area, where it rarely rains.
The average annual rainfall in the Atacama is so low that a strong storm in a Brazilian city, for example, is already higher than what rains in this desert year-round. It is not by chance that it is considered by astronomers as one of the best places on Earth to observe celestial bodies, as clouds rarely form in this location.
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The Atacama Desert's record drought is 1400 consecutive days without rain, according to official records from Chile's meteorological companies. The climate, in turn, is similar to that of other hot deserts and predominantly composed of sand: a scorching heat during the day and a cold one extreme at night, due to the low humidity and the influence of the temperature of the sand in the environment, with a thermal oscillation ranging from 0°C to 45°C.
Although the region presents severe natural conditions, there is life in the place. The flora is basically composed of small trees and shrubs that have managed to adapt to the aridity and lack of water. The animals, also adapted to the climate, are limited to small species, such as some types of rats, lizards, llamas, guanacos and flamingos.
In addition to housing some forms of life, Atacama also has some economic functions. The first is the great availability of copper in the region, which makes Chile one of the main exporters of this natural resource. The other is tourism, both archeological (with the remains of the peoples Chinchorros) and adventure. Thus, the city of São Pedro do Atacama, with about 3000 inhabitants, is very busy and receives a large number of visitors all year round. There are also some hot and cold water lakes in the vicinity of some volcanoes in the region.
Entrance to the city of São Pedro do Atacama
By Me. Rodolfo Alves Pena
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
PENA, Rodolfo F. Alves. "Atacama Desert"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/geografia/deserto-atacama.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
