News Environment

The most intense sunlight on Earth can be found in the Atacama Desert

Sunlight in the South American desert can occasionally rival the solar intensity on Venus

A photo of Lejía Lake with the volcanoes Aguas Calientes and Acamarachi in the background.

The volcanoes Aguas Calientes and Acamarachi loom over Lejía Lake, a salt lake on the high-altitude Altiplano plateau in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile.

Pawel Toczynski/The Image Bank/Getty Images

By Katherine Kornei

- More than 2 years ago

Read another version of this article at Science News Explores

Forget Arizona or Florida — sun worshippers ought to head to the Atacama Desert in South America.