Rainless Fog Feeds Life and Water on Chile's Atacama Cliffs
In northern Chile’s hyperarid Atacama, rain gauges sit idle for generations while a daily marine fog called camanchaca drenches coastal cliffs, sustaining lichens, cacti and a fishing village that relies on the mist for moisture. Scientists have developed fog collectors to harvest this water, turning a natural phenomenon into a local resource, while researchers study how the fog also shapes unique ecosystems on the cliff faces and soils in one of the driest places on Earth.