Life in the Desert

The Desert

By Elise Pasternock

Overview

Deserts are dry land areas with little vegetation that occupy 30 percent of Earth's surface. The world's hottest deserts are typically between 15 and 30 degrees north or south of the equator. The heat from the equator divides to flow north and south. Deserts can be hot or cold. There are five types of desert: subtropical, coastal, rain shadow, interior, and polar. Polar deserts can be found in Antarctica and the Arctic regions (Canada, Greenland, and Russia). The Sahara, Arabian, Gobi, and Patagonian deserts are some of the world's largest.

Antartica

The largest arctic desert in the world, measuring 5.5 million square miles.

The Arctics

The only polar desert apart from Antartica, located in Canada, Greenland, and Russia. It spans 5.4 million square miles.

The Sahara Desert

The largest subtropical desert in the world, located in North Africa, measuring 3.5 million square miles.

The Arabian Desert

A desert spanning the majority of the Arabian Peninsula in Asia with an area of roughly one million square miles.

Recreational Activities

Horseback Riding

The Namib Desert offers scenic horse rides for tourists, as well as routes including the Hakos Mountains, canyons, and the Atlantic Ocean's shoreline.

Dune Bashing

The Lahbab Desert offers a unique experience called dune-bashing. A driver will take you on a high-speed ride across the dunes.

Sandboarding

The Usaka Desert in Peru allows sand-surfing across desert slopes. Adventure companies often rent boards and sand-boarding supplies to eager tourists.

Threats and Solutions

Threats:

Global warming may cause wildfires, eliminating tree and shrub species and replacing them with desert grasses.
Grazing animals can destroy desert plants, harming organisms that rely on them.
Nuclear waste can be dumped in deserts, harming the environment.

Solutions:

Planting leguminous plants can restore soil fertility by bringing nitrogen into desert soil.
Off-road vehicles should only be driven on designated trails to prevent environmental damage.
People can create artificial grooves in desert soil to trap rainfall and access moisture.

Global Significance

Deserts' dry conditions create essential minerals such as gypsum, borate, nitrates, and potassium.
Over 50 percent of the copper in the world is located in the deserts of Mexico, Australia, and Chile.
Deserts hold 75 percent of global oil reserves.
Desert storms can prevent carbon dioxide from reaching Earth's atmosphere, hindering global warming.

Fun Facts

Deserts make up 1/3 of Earth's surface
The Namib Desert has the tallest sand dunes in the world, up to 300 meters high
The first dinosaur eggs were discovered in the Gobi Desert in 1923

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