Scientists have identified Earth's sunniest spot, and it has the same radiation as Venus.
The sunniest spot on Earth is the Altiplano of the Atacama Desert, an arid plateau near the Andes mountains in Chile that receives as much sunshine as Venus.
The Atacama Desert is special for multiple reasons: It's the oldest desert on Earth, the driest beyond the poles and possibly the clearest place to view the night sky. The Chilean Altiplano also stands out for its solar irradiance, or the output of light energy emitted from the sun to Earth. Scientists measured the world record at the plateau at 2,177 watts per square meter.
"When solar irradiance is transmitted through the atmosphere, it's absorbed by water vapor and scattered by clouds and aerosols, Seiji Kato, an atmospheric scientist at NASA who wasn’t involved in the study, told The Washington Post."However, a high elevation location that is above the water vapor layer and has less clouds and aerosols would inevitably receive more sunshine."
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