When Fog Becomes Life: Fog Water Harvesting in the Hyperarid Atacama Desert

Life without water in the hyperarid Atacama Desert, where annual rainfall rarely exceeds 2 mm, is extraordinarily challenging. Yet life persists. In the foreground, colorful biological soil crusts survive by capturing small inputs of atmospheric moisture from marine fog and dew. In the background of the photograph, fog collectors rise as symbols of human ingenuity and persistence.

For more than three decades, Chilean scientists from different disciplines have focused on the study of fog, spanning fields such as ecology and meteorology to territorial planning and water-governance. In this context, one of the main research efforts has focused on fog as an alternative water source, developing technologies capable of harvesting water from the air to support rural communities living in these extreme ecosystems.

The photograph reveals a shared strategy of survival, where both nature and people depend on the same enigmatic and non-traditional source of water: fog.