No place on Earth is more sun - bake than the Altiplano of the Atacama Desert in South America , according to a new study . However , sunbathers looking to catch a tan should stay clear - this otherworldly plateau has a sunlight strength like to Venus , the Solar System ’s own fiery hellscape .
planet information have previously suggested that the sunniest place on Earth is Altiplano , a large mellow - altitude plateau in theAtacamathat lies across part of Chile , Bolivia , and Peru . After Tibet , it ’s the highest tableland on the planet , with an ordinary altitude of 3,750 metre ( 12,300 feet ) .
To see whether the satellite recordings were accurate , scientist built an atmospheric observatory in 2016 at the northwesterly border of the Chajnantor Plateau in the Atacama Desert of northerly Chile .
Just as the satellite had anticipated , the data point from the observatory valuate a world disk of solar irradiance : a whip 2,177 watts per square metre .
That was commemorate during a salvo of summer sun in January 2017 . Meanwhile , the twelvemonth - troll norm was 308 watts per square metre , which the researchers say is the high worldwide .
“ It ’s actually the radiation therapy that you will be receive in summer if you are suffer up on Venus , ” Raul Cordero , cogitation generator and climatologist at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands , toldThe Washington Post .
Bear in mind , Venus isthe hottest planetin our Solar System . Although Mercury is closer to the Sun , its ultra - chummy atmosphere bunker in the heat like a greenhouse . Its fair surface temperature is 470 ° C ( 880 ° farad ) , red-hot enough to thaw lead . While it ’s clearly not that warm in the Atacama Desert , the intensity of sunshine it receive is comparable , the researcher intimate .
low-toned cloud ruminate solar radiation , cool off the Earth ’s control surface . In some example , however , cloud can in reality boost the intensity of theSun . The researchers found that the especially harsh periods of solar ray were part thanks to reflexion from a thin scattering of high - altitude break-dance swarm .
The team finished their study by noting how the Chajnantor Plateau would provide an “ ideal berth for try out safety , lastingness , and designing of future variability - validation [ photovoltaic ] power plant . ”
Let ’s just desire the researchersbring their SPF 50 .
“ If you are disclose to such a high radiation danger , you have to protect your pelt . At this particular location , for people working there … they are aware that the radiation syndrome was gamey , but now we know how really gamy , ” added Cordero .
The bailiwick is published in theBulletin of the American Meteorological Society .
