最旱之地 · THE DRIEST GROUND
Where Rain Forgets to Fall — Chile · The Atacama
夹在安第斯与海岸山脉之间的双重雨影里，阿塔卡马是地球上除两极外最干旱的沙漠——有些气象站从未记录到一滴雨。
两道山墙从两侧把空气拧干——安第斯挡住来自大西洋的云，海岸山脉与冰冷的洋流挡住来自太平洋的云——于是几乎没有雨能落到中间的地面。结果是一片酷似火星的土地，NASA 在此测试火星车；天空又澄澈无比，世界上许多顶尖望远镜便云集其上。这份令农耕绝望的干旱，恰恰最宜仰望星辰。
Caught in a double rain shadow between the Andes and the coastal range, the Atacama is the driest non-polar desert on Earth — some weather stations have never recorded a drop of rain.
Two walls of mountains wring the air dry from both sides — the Andes block clouds from the Atlantic, the coast range and a cold offshore current block them from the Pacific — so almost no rain ever reaches the ground between. The result is a landscape so Mars-like that NASA tests rovers here, and so clear-skied that many of the world's great telescopes cluster above it. Aridity that defeats farming turns out to be perfect for watching the stars.