Chile's Atacama Desert is a graveyard for the world's junk: Mountains of clothes, shoes and cars lit

[Judi Lynn]

Chile's Atacama Desert is a graveyard for the world's junk: Mountains of clothes, shoes and cars litter the landscape scientists believe could reveal how to find life on Mars

• Mountains of clothes, tires, shoes and cars are dumped in Chile's Atacama Desert from all parts of the world
  
• Scientists are not only concerned about the damage to the environment, but the trash could destroy research
  
• Microorganisms that have adapted to the near waterless world could provide clues on how to find life on similar planets, specifically Mars

By STACY LIBERATORE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 16:56 EST, 25 November 2022 | UPDATED: 16:56 EST, 25 November 2022


Chile's Atacama Desert is a barren landscape that has become a graveyard for the world's garbage, and the mountains of clothes, cars and shoes could hinder scientific advances in space.

This is one of the Earth's driest regions, but scientists have found microorganisms adapting to the near waterless world that could provide clues on how to find life on similar planets, specifically Mars.

This research is endangered because Atacama is a hub for secondhand and unsold clothing from the United States, Europe and Asia - more than 46,000 tons of clothes were dumped in the desert last year.

Used cars also flood the country from the free trade zone only to be stacked in the desert, while piles of abandoned tires are scattered across the landscape.



More:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-11470615/Chiles-Atacama-Desert-graveyard-worlds-junk-threatening-science.html