Scientists Found a Place on Earth That's Like Standing on Venus

Bright Side

Scientists measured sunlight on the Chajnantor Plateau, where the Atacama Large Millimeter Array is located, and found it to be 2,177 watts per square meter. This level of sunlight is similar to what you'd experience if you were 79% of the way from Earth to the Sun. How can a spot on Earth be as sunny as Venus? It turns out the clouds in the Atacama Desert are to blame. Instead of blocking sunlight, these clouds can sometimes focus the Sun’s rays onto the surface, like a magnifying glass.  Credit:  Lighthouse of Walvis Bay: Anagoria, CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2011-02-11_24.JPG  CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0:  ALMA Antennas: Iztok Bončina/ESO, https://id.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkas:ALMA_Antennas_on_Chajnantor.jpg  ALMA Site: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/L. Calçada (ESO), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ALMA_Site_(artist%27s_impression).jpg  Tillandsia landbeckii: (c) Nicolás Lavandero, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tillandsia_landbeckii_imported_from_iNaturalist_photo_72217558_on_19_November_2023.jpg  Tillandsia landbeckii: (c) Aira Francisca Faúndez Fallau, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tillandsia_landbeckii_imported_from_iNaturalist_photo_95405597_on_19_November_2023.jpg  NASA/JPL-Caltech  NASA/JPL  Animation is created by Bright Side.  #brightside   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Listen to Bright Side on:  Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/idhttps-podcasts-apple-com-podcast-bright-side/id1554898078 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/brightside/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official/ Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Snapchat - https://www.snapchat.com/p/c6a1e38a-bff1-4a40-9731-2c8234ccb19f/1866144599336960  Stock materials (photos, footages and other):  https://www.depositphotos.com  https://www.shutterstock.com  https://www.eastnews.ru  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me

Transcript

00:00Hey there! Imagine a place on Earth that's just like Venus.

00:04It's Chile's Atacama Desert.

00:06I assume you wouldn't want to spend your holidays there.

00:09Similar to other deserts, this one isn't exactly the friendliest place.

00:14It's a long stretch of land close to the Andes Mountains.

00:17This makes it one of the driest spots on the planet.

00:20In fact, it's so dry that only a few places in Antarctica have stayed without rain for longer.

00:27This tough environment has some benefits to offer.

00:30Because it's located high up and doesn't have many clouds or a lot of light pollution,

00:35it's become the perfect home for advanced telescopes.

00:38These telescopes help us explore the cosmos.

00:42A new study from June 2023 revealed that this desert is even weirder and more out of this world than we had thought.

00:51It makes sense that a desert as dry as this one gets a lot of sun.

00:55On average, it has about 308 watts of sunlight per 10 square feet.

01:00That's almost twice as much as places like Europe or the eastern United States get.

01:05Raul Cordero is a scientist.

01:08He and his team checked out the sunlight in the spot housing the biggest telescope project ever,

01:14the Atacama Large Millimeter Array.

01:17And this is the sunniest place on Earth.

01:20This is what you'd experience if you were about 79% of the way from the sun to Earth.

01:25Of course, if you were actually on Venus, you would have way bigger things to worry about than just a lot of sunlight.

01:34Now let's figure out why this place is almost as sunny as Venus.

01:38It's because of clouds.

01:40Usually, clouds block sunlight and keep us cool.

01:43But sometimes they can act like a magnifying glass in special situations, concentrating the sun's rays.

01:49This is called forward scattering.

01:52This happens when certain types of clouds show up during the South American monsoon in the middle of the summer.

01:58During the summer in the southern hemisphere, we're actually a bit closer to the sun,

02:03and there's less ozone in that part of the world.

02:06This combo might explain why other high places on Earth, like the Himalayas,

02:10don't get as much intense sunlight as this desert.

02:15Let's talk more about Venus.

02:19What would it be like to stand on the surface of this planet?

02:22The more you learn about this sweltering world, the less you want to picture yourself there.

02:27It's not a friendly place at all, with crazy heat and super heavy air that could crush you.

02:33But pretend for a moment that you're on Venus.

02:36The air there is thick and heavy, 93 times denser than what we have on Earth.

02:42The air presses you down.

02:44Think of having a small car resting on your thumbnail.

02:47That's how it would feel.

02:49Or think about diving really deep into the ocean.

02:52You'd feel a lot of pressure pushing on your body.

02:55But on Venus, it's like having all the pressure of the atmosphere squishing and almost flattening you.

03:04What is the weather like on Venus?

03:06Ouch! Heat.

03:08Even though Mercury is closer to the Sun, Venus wins the prize for the hottest planet's surface.

03:14That thick air on Venus is mostly carbon dioxide, which acts like a blanket.

03:19When the Sun shines on Venus, the heat gets trapped by this blanket of air, and the planet heats a lot.

03:26Temperatures on Venus can hit 860 degrees Fahrenheit.

03:30Now, how do we explore Venus without getting roasted or squished?

03:35Well, going there in person is a no-go.

03:37Robots can handle it, yet even robots have struggled on Venus.

03:41Only a handful have made it to the surface.

03:44And they only managed to survive for a few hours before getting wrecked by the harsh conditions.

03:52The good news is we're figuring out ways to study Venus without putting anyone at risk.

03:57Future missions will check Venus out from above.

04:00Spacecraft up there will be able to see through the atmosphere without any trouble.

04:05NASA's got the VERITAS mission.

04:07Its aim is to make detailed maps of Venus from orbit, giving us a new view of the place.

04:15So we've examined the driest desert on our planet, the Atacama Desert.

04:19No wonder this area is the place that serves as testing grounds for space missions.

04:24But despite how arid this region is, there is life there.

04:29This is a realm of flamingos and lagoons.

04:32The place has colossal salt flats that extend for 4,633 square miles at a depth of 82 feet.

04:40It's a place of erupting geysers, naturally heated springs, towering volcanoes, herds of llamas,

04:46and deserts so parched that certain pockets have remained untouched by rain for over half a millennium.

04:53All this unfolds two to three miles above the sea level.

04:59What else survives in the Atacama Desert?

05:03It's quite hard to fathom that plants could thrive in such inhospitable conditions.

05:08Yet, they manage to survive here.

05:10Take, for instance, Tillandsia landbeckii.

05:13These plants defy the odds in the desert by extracting moisture from the fog that rolls in from the nearby coast.

05:20This fog water can also serve as a sustainable water source for humans.

05:25These plants lack traditional roots.

05:28Instead, they use their older, deceased parts to anchor themselves in the sand, forming little dune-like structures.

05:35They draw moisture out of the mist through their slender leaves and shoots, which swell upon contact with water.

05:42Nocturnal dune also provides water, particularly during the summer when fog is scarce.

05:48Together, plant communities existing there are known as Lomas Vegetation.

05:54The presence of this vegetation in the Atacama Desert is limited to a narrow coastal area where fog regularly occurs.

06:02Factors such as the distance from the Pacific, prevailing wind direction, and topography restrict the distribution of fog ecosystems.

06:11Satellite data analysis reveals that plants grow at altitudes ranging from 2,625 feet to 4,100 feet above sea level and up to 28 miles inland.

06:24They are mainly found on sandy plains along fog corridors or on slopes.

06:29They're about as tall as 1.5 feet, and they usually form a line.

06:34This clever lineup helps them catch all the moisture and yummy nutrients they need.

06:39The arrangement of these clusters depends on how much foggy water they can find.

06:46These tough desert plants are like water wizards of the plant world.

06:50They're so good at surviving in the desert that they give us ideas about getting water from fog.

06:55Water is precious in places like Iquique and small villages near the desert.

07:00Plus, with all the digging for stuff like copper and lithium, which makes batteries work, they need even more water.

07:07Usually, people get drinking water from under the ground, but these little plants have something to teach us.

07:12Using this trick, we're making a map showing where these plants like to party most.

07:17This map could help us find perfect spots for catching fog with special nets.

07:25Here's another idea that will make you feel like you're on the surface of another planet.

07:29Pelican Point is in Namibia.

07:32You might not expect it, but Pelican Point is actually a great place to surf.

07:38Every year, it only gets around 0.30 inches of rain, but that doesn't stop surfers from riding the waves.

07:46The weather is kind of unique here. It's hardly ever too hot or too cold.

07:51This place has an unusual type of dry climate, thanks to the cold ocean currents near the bay.

07:57Skeleton Bay, alternatively named Donkey Bay, is an iconic surfing location.

08:02The surf wave crashes onto the sands of Pelican Point, situated about 5 miles northwest of Walvis Bay,

08:09a compact harbor town famous for its sand dunes and secure anchorage.

08:14Would you surf there?

08:19That's it for today. So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.

08:25Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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