Satellite images released by NASA show pockets of plant life popping up all over the Sahara Desert after an extratropical cyclone drenched a large swath of northwestern Africa on Sept. 7 and Sept. 8.

Satellite images released by NASA show pockets of plant life popping up all over the Sahara Desert after an extratropical cyclone drenched a large swath of northwestern Africa on Sept. 7 and Sept. 8.

When parched regions in this part of Africa get heavy rainfall, the flora responds almost readily, Peter de Menocal, president and director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, told ABC News.

Satellite images released by NASA show pockets of plant life popping up all over the Sahara Desert after an extratropical cyclone drenched a large swath of northwestern Africa on Sept. 7 and Sept. 8.

Parts of the Sahara Desert are turning green amid an influx of heavy rainfall. ... Dan Harnos, a meteorologist at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, told ABC News last month.

One of the driest regions on earth is shifting green, as an influx of heavy rainfall causes vegetation to grow in the typically barren landscape.