Why does the Atacama Desert exist on the West side of the Andes Mountain of S. America between lattitude 10-30

Question

Why does the Atacama Desert exist on the West side of the Andes Mountain of S. America between lattitude 10-30

Answer 1

The Atacama desert exists on the West of South America because it's blocked from rain on both sides, the Andes Mountains in the East, and the High pressure over the Pacific at this latitude which keeps the rain coming in from the West.

So then was created a desert that's one of the driest places on Earth.

Why does it exist west of the Andes? Because it creates a rain shadow.

Why is it between latitude 10-30S? Because of the high pressure over that part of the Pacific keeps rain from coming in. That's why it's there.

Answer 2

1000's of years ago it used to be lush with lots of forests but over time it lost most of it's moisture from weather changes and earthquakes.