yDESERTS

What is a Desert Like?

The hot desert is a land of extremes: extreme heat and extreme dryness; sudden flash floods and cold nights. Because deserts are such a harsh environment, deserts often have names likes "Death Valley," "the empty quarter," and "the place from where there is no return."

Dryness
Deserts are usually very, very dry. Even the wettest deserts get less than ten inches of precipitation a year. y In most places, rain falls steadily throughout the year. But in the desert, there may be only a few periods of rains per year with a lot of time between rains. When it does rain, there may be quite a downpour! After the rain, desert flowers bloom.
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Hot During the Day, Cool at Night

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Everyone knows that during the day many deserts are hot, very hot. Temperatures in excess of 100 degrees fahrenheit are not uncommon.Yet at night, the same deserts can have temperatures fall into the 40s or 50s? Why?

Other biomes are insulated by their humidity (water vapor in the air). Temperate deciduous forests, for example, may have 80 percent humidity or more during the day. This water reflects and absorbs sunlight and the energy it brings. At night the water acts like a blanket, trapping heat inside the forest. Since deserts usually have only between 10 and 20 percent humidity to trap temperatures and have so few trees and other vegetation to retain heat, they cool down rapidly when the sun sets, and heat up quickly after the sun rises.

Types of Deserts

Believe it or not, deserts come in several varieties. The two major classifications are hot and cold.

Hot Deserts of the World

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The main form of precipitation in a hot desert is rain. But that's only ten inches or less of rain per year.
Physical Features Great Sandy, Victoria, and Simpson are sandy; Gibson and Sturt are stony. Some Plants & Animals acacia, casuarina tree, eucalyptus, saltbush, spinifex grass bluetongued lizard, dingo, fattailed mouse, kangaroo, marsupial mole, rabbiteared bandicoot, sand goanna, spinifex hopping mouse, throny devil Special Facts Aborigines have lived in the Australian deserts for over 30,000 years.

Name Location Australian (Great Sandy, Victoria, Simpson, Gibson, and Sturt) Australia

Cold Deserts of the World

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The main form of precipitation in a cold desert is snow or fog.

Where Are Deserts Located?

Many deserts are found in bands along 30 degrees latitude north and 30 degrees latitude south (between the red lines on the map). y Some deserts located by mountains and are caused by the "rainshadow" effect. As air moves up over a mountain range, it gets cold and loses the ability to hold moisture -- so it rains or snows. When the air moves down the other side of the mountain, it gets warmer. Warm air can hold lots of moisture, so it doesn't rain as much, and a desert is formed.
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Deserts of the World

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The graph below compares the sizes of the world's largest deserts. See Types of Deserts for more information about individual deserts throughout the world.
Location North Africa Mongolia-China Southern Africa Australia Australia Square Kilometers 9,065,000 1,295,000 582,000 338,500 338,500

Desert Sahara Gobi Kalahari Great Victoria Great Sandy

Desert Plants
Deserts are the home to many living things. In fact, deserts are second only to tropical rainforests in the variety of plant and animal species that live there. How do you think plants grow in a place that is very, very dry? y Many of the fascinating features of desert plants are adaptations -- traits that help the plant survive in its harsh environment. Desert plants have two main adaptations: y Ability to collect and store water Features that reduce water loss
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Old Man Cactus

Prickly Pear

Dragon Tree

Aloe

Desert Animals
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Animals in the desert must survive in a hostile environment. Intense heat, searing sun, and lack of water are just a few of the challenges facing desert animals. Animals that live in the hot desert have many adaptations. Some animals never drink, but get their water from seeds (some can contain up to 50% water) and plants.

Many animals are nocturnal, sleeping during the hot day and only coming out at night to eat and hunt. Some animals rarely spend any time above ground. Spadefoot toads spend nine months of every year underground!