A desert stirs to life: Chile's Atacama erupts in its biggest floral display in decades

Heavy El Niño rains penetrated deeper into Chile's Atacama Desert than in decades, awakening millions of dormant seeds and triggering the largest and most colorful wildflower bloom in 30 years, transforming the world's driest non-polar desert into a patchwork of pinks, yellows, lilacs and purples.

Scientists have not yet confirmed whether this is the largest bloom on record; it was expected to last until mid-November.