By — William Brangham William Brangham By — Lorna Baldwin Lorna Baldwin Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/scientists-study-rare-bloom-in-the-atacama-desert-one-of-the-driest-places-on-earth Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Audio Wildflowers are blooming in the Atacama Desert, an inhospitable stretch of land west of the Andes Mountains that normally gets just 2 millimeters of rain every year. But this July and August, a rare alignment of conditions led to a beautiful, fleeting burst of color that has drawn tourists and scientists alike. William Brangham reports. Listen to this Segment Watch Watch the Full Episode PBS NewsHour from Oct 19, 2025 By — William Brangham William Brangham William Brangham is an award-winning correspondent, producer, and substitute anchor for the PBS News Hour. @WmBrangham By — Lorna Baldwin Lorna Baldwin Lorna Baldwin is an Emmy and Peabody award winning producer at the PBS NewsHour. In her two decades at the NewsHour, Baldwin has crisscrossed the US reporting on issues ranging from the water crisis in Flint, Michigan to tsunami preparedness in the Pacific Northwest to the politics of poverty on the campaign trail in North Carolina. Farther afield, Baldwin reported on the problem of sea turtle nest poaching in Costa Rica, the distinctive architecture of Rotterdam, the Netherlands and world renowned landscape artist, Piet Oudolf. @lornabaldwin