First full survey of Peru and Chile’s threatened fog island ecosystems

Dotted along the arid coasts of Peru and Chile are islands of green space called fog oases that provide local sources of clean air, water and medicinal plants. The fog islands are poorly understood by scientists, but a satellite survey suggests they can grow across an area of land more than four times larger than previously thought.

“I’m sure the local people living there know about them, but it gives us that knowledge of where it is in the landscape,” says Justin Moat at…