The “miracle” of the Atacama flowers, under the threat of climate change

Some define it as a “mystery”, others as a “miracle”: every so often, the desert of Atacama, one of the driest areas in the world, is covered with a blanket of thousands of flowers in a vibrant and colorful spectacle that, according to experts, could be threatened by the climate change.

The rains are those that awaken the more than 900 species of native flora that for a period of time of between five and seven years, approximately, remain dormant, in the form of seeds or bulbs, under the dry soils of the Atacameña region, to 1,000 kilometers north of Santiago de Chile.

Sighs, guanaco legs, añañucas, azulillos, friar’s crowns or malvillas are some of the species that are part of this “explosion of biodiversity,” said César Pizarro, a biologist at the Atacama National Forestry Corporation.

Along with them, guanacos that fertilize the land and dozens of species of birds and insects endemic and unique on the planet walk.

“This is a very unusual event that shows how a desert and barren environment hides a lot of hidden life,” he said.

The flowering, which this year can be admired in its maximum splendor in a stretch of 100 kilometers between the towns of Caldera and Chañaral, on the edge of the Pacific, usually occurs in periods of between five and seven years, due to the El Niño weather phenomenon. , which makes the waters evaporate and precipitate.

On this occasion, two unusual and brief episodes of rain recorded in June, of 12 and 17 millimeters per hour, were enough to cause the germination of flower beds where there are usually only a few bushes.

Danger of low rainfall

However, the scientific community points out that the changes in rainfall in the last decade, attributed to the change in climate, could endanger the future of this visual spectacle, one of the greatest tourist attractions in the area.

From 1980 to 2017, the flowering was recorded only nine times and this year’s “was more localized and less intense than the previous ones,” said Andrea Loayza, a biologist and academic at the University of La Serena.

“If the episodes of rainfall continue to decline for several more decades, the phenomenon could stop being triggered,” he lamented.

Chile is going through the worst drought on record, with rainfall deficits of up to 90% in some regions according to data from the Chilean Meteorological Directorate, which led the Government to declare the Atacama region a water shortage zone on last May.

resilient naturalness

Francisco Squeo, PhD in Biology from the University of Chile, explained that there are flower populations that have survived millions of years, glaciations and also much drier periods, a sign that nature is “very resilient and adaptive.”

However, he continued, 200 years ago there was four times more water than there is now and “if the temperature continues to rise and rainfall decreases, many seeds will not be able to establish and grow.”

“Let’s hope that man will take measures soon to reduce climate change, but the question is, can the flowers wait?”

Parliament is currently discussing a climate change law “that seeks to protect water resources and, in parallel, is implementing a plan for the protection of threatened flower species,” said the Undersecretary of the Environment, Javier Naranjo.

Protect tourism

The desert has bathed the entire north of the country for 25 million years, a vast expanse of land made up of three eminently mining regions, with soils rich in copper, of which Chile is the world’s leading exporter.

Cities are scarce and the landscape is made up of small and humble villages that are increasingly depopulated that try to survive through tourism, which has grown “explosively” in the last decade, said Alejandro Martín, regional director of the National Tourism Service.

Along with the dune landscape or astronomy, the flowery desert is one of the main attractions, said Sebastián González, a geologist and tour guide.

“Losing something like this would put us in a very complex situation. Tourism is our second chance at life ”, he stated.