The desert "drier than Mars" was devastated after experiencing the heaviest rainfall in 500 years

The driest desert in the world has been devastated after three consecutive years of rain – the first time in 500 years.

The Atacama Desert, in northern Chile, has adapted to waterless survival for more than 150 million years, but unusual rainfall has severely damaged the rare ecosystem and its unique microbes .

Experts are constantly observing the region, as extreme drought is considered a good analogue for studies on Mars.

As with Mars, the soil is extremely poor in organic life and yet it is still inhabited by microbial species from the three areas of life that are both dry and radiation tolerant, and live in the region since the Jurassic.

The situation at the heart of "hyperarid" Atacama Desert in northern Chile, which experienced consecutive rains for the first time in 500 years, shocked scientists.

Rather than supporting the development of life in the desert, they say that the rain has destroyed it.

The team at the Astrobiology Center said the rain had devastated the microbial species that lived there and that it was not used to any rain, according to the study published in the Scientific Reports magazine.

The recent rains were attributed to climate change and researcher Armando Azua-Bustos explained: "Our group discovered that the contribution of water did not mean a development of life in Atacama, but caused considerable devastation of microbial species that lived in these places before precipitation.

They added: "… the sudden and massive water supply in regions that have remained hyper-arid for millions of years is detrimental to most microbial surface species, extremely well suited to survive with meager amounts of liquid water and quickly. " perish from an osmotic shock when the water suddenly becomes abundant ".

The study found that native microorganisms perfectly adapted to life in extremely dry conditions were unable to adapt to the new conditions and that 85% of the microbial life in the study areas had been destroyed.

The Atacama Desert is one of the driest places in the world and the only true desert to receive less rainfall than the polar deserts.