In northern Chile's Atacama Desert, white and purple flowers bloom unusually early, fueled by recent heavy rains.
Located in the Southern Hemisphere, the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth, is currently experiencing winter.
In the desert, where the average annual rainfall is around 15 millimeters, the seeds and bulbs of some plants remain dormant underground in the hot and dry environment until they receive sufficient water. But this typically occurs every few years in the spring.
Flowers bloom in northern Chile's Atacama Desert. /CMG
The recent heavy rains, caused by El Niño, a natural climate phenomenon impacting global weather patterns, have brought about the early bloom.
More rain is expected, meaning the flowers could spread over a larger area, said Cesar Pizarro, who heads biodiversity conservation for the National Forestry Corporation, an organization run by the Chilean government.
Over the past 40 years, around 15 blooming events have happened, according to a 2022 analysis from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. The last early bloom was observed in 2015.