ENVIRONMENT After intense and unexpected rain fell in the north of Chile, parts of the usually arid Atacama desert have turned into a carpet of flowers. (BBC) What other deserts experience periodic “superblooms”? Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources in our Teachers Toolkit. Discussion Ideas The BBC article calls the Atacama Desert the “world’s driest place.” How dry is it? Very! … Continue reading Driest Place on Earth Erupts in Bloom
Two weeks ago, we announced the latest and greatest National Geographic Pristine Seas Expedition to the Desventuradas Islands. Located 853 kilometers (530 miles) off the coast of Chile, the Desventuradas are one of the most mysterious and unknown places in the Eastern Pacific. Very little scientific information is known about this (essentially uninhabited) “blue spot” on the map. In fact, the area surrounding the Desventuradas … Continue reading Update: Expedition to the Desventuradas Islands
Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore. —André Gide You may have heard the old adage about the “white spots on the map.” This month, forget the “white.” We here at National Geographic are seeing “blue.” Did you know that 98% of the ocean remains unexplored? There’s only one world ocean, but there’s more than one … Continue reading Forget white, we’re seeing blue. Join us.
In the last six weeks, two major earthquakes struck the Western Hemisphere. The first leveled the city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti on January 12. The second occurred off the coast of Concepcion, Chile on February 27. While both of these events were life-altering for local residents and many others around the world, why does it appear that Chile’s earthquake had less of a devastating impact, even … Continue reading Earthquakes in the Western Hemisphere
