The driest place on Earth is Antarctica’s polar plateau, with the McMurdo Dry Valleys being the driest known place. The Atacama Desert in Chile is also extremely dry, with some areas receiving no rainfall for centuries and the high coastal ridge being the driest place of all. Both areas have been compared to Mars.
The driest place on Earth is some areas of Antarctica, especially the polar plateau, which receives little or no precipitation and, when it does occur, only in the form of fine ice crystals and no more than a few cm per year. The driest known place in Antarctica (with no ice cover) is the McMurdo Dry Valleys, which, due to strong gusts of dense wind, are very low in surface moisture. If an animal like a seal dies here, it becomes mummified for decades, as there is very little native life to decompose it. The McMurdo Dry Valleys have been extensively studied by scientists, who compare the climate to that of Mars.
Another drier place is the Atacama Desert in Chile, parts of which have received absolutely zero rainfall for centuries. Parts of the Atacama Desert may actually exceed the aridity of most of Antarctica, although data from the latter is insufficient to tell. The Atacama Desert is so arid that the 6,885 m (22,590 ft) mountains have no glaciers, making them unique in the world. Studies have shown that the Atacama Desert received no appreciable rainfall between 1570 and 1971 and that some ancient riverbeds appear to have been dry for 120,000 years. Like the McMurdo Dry Valleys, parts of the Atacama Desert have been compared to Mars and have actually been used to film extraterrestrial scenes in science fiction films.
The driest place of all in the Atacama Desert is the high coastal ridge, which receives no sea fog. The entire desert is created by a “rain shadow” caused by the Andes mountains to the west, which absorb all the moisture before it can reach the area. In 1569, Alonso de Ercilla, a Spanish soldier, wrote “Towards Atacama, near the deserted coast, you will see a land without men, where there is no bird, no beast, no tree, no vegetation”. The driest place in the desert is so devoid of life that no microbes of any kind can be detected in the soil.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
