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Chile's Atacama Desert, Earth's Driest Area, Blooms With Rare Flowers

By R. Siva Kumar | Update Date: Nov 04, 2015 09:16 AM EST

This is the driest pace on earth---Chile's Atacama Desert. Yet it is the venue of a rare event, in which pink and purple flowers have bloomed like a carpet, according to The Washington Post.

The Chilean desert has a number of firsts to its record. It was a part of Chile that remained without rainfall for the longest time. In the 20th century, the desert underwent 173 straight and rainless months.

Strangely, earlier this year, the flowers suddenly blossomed after a heavy downpour, that regenerated seed that lay dormant for years, according to Fox News.

"The Atacama region was punished, but also blessed by the phenomenon of a flourishing desert, something that happens only after the rains, this time brought about by El Niño and climate change. The intensity of blooms this year has no precedent and the fact that it has happened twice in a same year has never been recorded in the country's history. We are surprised." said Daniel Diaz, National Tourism Service director in Atacama, according to ABC News.

Even though the heavy rains caused huge floods, mudslides, damaged a few historical sites and killed 28, they also revived life.

The rain occurs after every five to seven years, but this year's pink blossoming is a rare event after 18 years.

YouTube/Times of Oman

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