Desert and dry scrubland describes any area that receives less than 250mm of rainfall a year. Not just the endless, baking sand dunes of popular conception, it includes arid areas in temperate regions. Plants in this habitat are well adapted to conserving water and often have to survive extremely hot days and cold nights when the temperature plummets. Deserts may appear to have very little life in them, but a closer inspection can reveal high biodiversity. There are about 95 deserts on Earth.
The desert is a region of extremes. It is usually extremely dry, extremely remote and extremely hot. It can also be extremely cold at night (especially in the winter), extremely windy (especially in the summer), and prone to flash flooding in the spring.
Facts about Deserts
1. Far from being barren wastelands, deserts are biologically rich habitats with a vast array of animals and plants that have adapted to the harsh conditions there.
2. The desert is the hottest habitat on earth. It can be over 100 degrees Farenheit during the day and drop below 32 degrees Farenheit at night. This change happens because deserts are bare. There is little protection to keep them from heating up in the sun and cooling off when the sun disappears at night.
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3. There is little rain in a desert, However, when it does rain, it pours! Violent rainstorms can cause flashfloods in the desert. After a storm, the desert may not see any rain for weeks or months. Sometimes rainstorms fail to wet the desert floor. The rain may turn to vapor before it reaches the extremely hot ground.
4. Deserts can be sandy, stony or covered in pebbles. The land can be flat or have rolling hills. It can have cliffs, canyons and unique rock formations. Some lie below sea level and others rest up on plateaus and mountains.
5. Deserts can be sandy, stony or covered in pebbles. The land can be flat or have rolling hills. It can have cliffs, canyons and unique rock formations. Some lie below sea level and others rest up on plateaus and mountains.
6. Deserts have different climates because their locations vary. The seashore deserts are among the driest on earth even though they are next to an ocean. The surface of a desert may be dry as bone, but there may be water deep beneath it. Water seeps through the soil from higher elevations and underground streams may flow from caves and hidden springs.
7. There are two types of deserts – hot and cold. Hot deserts receive what little moisture they get in the form of rain. Cold deserts receive their moisture in the form of snow.
8. Desert oases occur where the water table is near the surface of the desert. Groundwater can be easily extracted to support vegetation and wildlife. Some desert oases are big enough to support lush date palms, groves of fruit trees, flower gardens and irrigated fields. Others are nothing more than a circle of green with a well or small spring.
9. One of the driest places on Earth is the Atacama Desert. It is virtually devoid of life because it is blocked from receiving precipitation by the Andes mountains to the east and the Chilean Coast Range to the west.
10. Deserts are scattered all around the Earth. The Sahara desert is the largest in the world. It stretches for 3,250,000 square miles! This desert covers almost the entire northern quarter of the African continent. In the west, the Sahara is rocky with varied elevation. It contains underground rivers, which result in oases. The central region of the Sahara has more elevation than the other areas. Even though the area lacks rainfall, peaks found in this area are snow-capped during the winter. The Eastern part of the Sahara is dry with very few oases. The Sahara has a poulation of 2 million people.
References: Wikipedia Inchapinch.com