Deserts around the World

What Is A Desert?

A desert si definied as an area with little to no precipitation all year round(rain or snow, deserts
get less than 25 mm of precipitation each year, other deserts may get up to 250 mm of
precipitation.). Due to the lack of water, neither plants nor animals can thrive there, therefore
deserts are typically low in biodiversity(both flora and fauna), including human interference.

What makes a desert so inhospicable?

First of all the lack of clouds means that heat collected during the day quickly disipates into the
atmosphere at night, which results in extreme temperature differences between day and night.

Strong winds often increase the aridity of the area, combined with the lack of plants leaves the
desert ground exposed to wind erosion.

Continual expansion and contraction of desert rocks produced by the extreme temperature
fluctuation results in their shattering and breaking WHICH creates sand, a distinctive feature of
most desert landscapes.

Hot Desert and Cold Desert

Deserts are among the world’s hottest habitats, but because the key characteristic of a desert is
aridity, there are many cold regions that can also be considered to be deserts.

On the basis of temperature, we can classify deserts into two types: Hot Desert and Cold Desert.
Although both places are dry and have unfavorable climatic conditions, they are different from
each other in terms of their climate, flora and fauna.

Hot deserts are lands of extremes: most of them are among the hottest, the driest and the sunniest
places on Earth. Found in large bands between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn,
either side of the Equator where stable descending air and high pressure aloft clear clouds and
create hot, arid conditions with intense sunshine.

Cold deserts form at higher latitudes, mostly in flat areas, called plateaus. These regions are
usually situated in the “rain shadow” of mountains. In a rain shadow desert, clouds passing over
the mountains release their moisture on the mountains rather than on the desert beyond. Cold
deserts have hot summers but extremely hot winters and are usually drier than hot desert
climates. The most famous cold desert is the Gobi desert in Asia.

1.Antarctica is the world’s largest desert

● Area size: ~ 14.2 million square kilometers

● Location: Antarctica(South Pole)

● Desert type: (Polar) cold desert

Antarctica is both Earth's most southermost continent and its largest desert. The coldest, driest
and windiest of continents, centred around the South Pole, it never had a single permanent
human resident. The only human residents were scientists and whalers. Apart from migratory
penguins and (of course) whales only specialized animals such as the fur seal, snow petrel and
albatross can call this place home.

2.Arctic Desert

● Area size: ~ 13.9 million square kilometers

● Location: Arctic Circle

● Desert type: (Polar) cold desert

Spreading across the USA, Russia, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Iceland, the Arctic
Desert is the second largest desert in the world. It can be devided into two areas, the top part,
known as the Arctic Circle, and the southern region known as the Tundra. Due to its warmer
climate and higher precipitation levels. It's inhabited by native people, the Eskimos, and home to
around 650 species of plants and 120 animal species such as arctic fox, polar bear, and arctic
walrus and ivory gull.

3. Sahara Desert
 ● Area size: ~ 9.1 million square kilometers

● Location: Northern Africa

● Desert type: Hot desert

Sahara is the first name that comes to mind when we think about deserts, largely due to our
ignorance of the cold deserts. It’s not a totally false opinion as the Sahara desert is Earth’s largest
hot desert, covering an entire third of Africa and spanning eleven countries, such a large slice of
Earth that the northern areas experience dry subtropical temperatures while the southern areas
remain in the dry tropics. Due to the changes in the course of the North African typhoons, for
thousands of years the Sahara desert has switched back and forth between being a dry sandy
desert and a lush, fertile savanna. Surelly the icon of this desert is the dromedary camel but
around 70 species of mammals, 90 species of resident birds, 100 species of reptiles call this place
home. Specialized wildlife here includes the Deathstalker Scorpion, the Red-Necked Ostrich,
and several different monitor lizard species.

4. Arabian Desert

● Area size: ~ 2.3 million square kilometers

● Location: Middle East and Western

● Desert type: Hot desert

Part of the Arabic Peninsula, the Arabian Desert spreads over several countries: Saudi Arabia,
UEA, Yemen, Iraq, Oman, Kuwait, Quatar and Jordan. It’s a barren and sandy landscape but
surprisingly rich in natural resources, such as oil and sulfur. This led to human interference, both
military and economic, that have inevitably affected the ecological balance of the parts of this
region. Temperatures can go as high as 50̊C during the day (in the summer), but can flip to
freezing cold in a matter of hours, leading to sparce vegetation. Sand cats and oryx still roam this
land as eternal rivals, living alongside spiny-tailed lizards and dung beetles.

5. Gobi Desert

● Area size: ~ 1.3 million square kilometers

 ● Location: Eastern Asia

● Desert type: Cold desert

The Gobi Desert, Asia’s largest desert, shared between Mongolia and China is the fastest-
growing desert on Earth. It’s a cold desert, made up of mostly hard rock and very little sand. This
made it easier to cross, entering history as the home to many the cities on the ancient Silk Road.
Also a rain shadow desert, located at the base of the Himalayas which prevent any precipitation
carrying winds from reaching the Goby Desert, although some area seem to be affected by
monsoons, giving them clear wet and dry seasons. The most common vegetation in the Gobi
desert are shrubs adapted to drought. This region sustains specialized fauna including black-
tailed gazelles, marbled polecats, wild Bactrian camels, Mongolian wild ass, Gobi
bears and sandplovers but also mountainous predators such as snow leopards and wolves. The
Gobi is also the capital of dinosaur-hunting. 
 6. Kalahari Desert

● Area size: ~ 930,000 square kilometers

● Location: Southern Africa (part of Botswana, Namibia & South Africa)
● Desert type: Hot desert

7. Patagonian Desert

● Area size: ~ 670,000 square kilometers / ~ 260,000 square miles

● Location: South America (part of Argentina & Chile)
● Desert type: Cold desert

8. Syrian Desert

● Area size: ~ 360,000 square kilometers / ~ 140,000 square miles

● Location: North America (part of Mexico & USA)
● Desert type: Hot desert

9. Great Basin Desert

● Area size: ~ 490,000 square kilometers

● Location: USA
● Desert type: Cold desert
 10. Chihuahuan Desert

● Area size: ~ 360,000 square kilometers

● Location: North America
● Desert type: Semi-arid hot desert