Deserts have been around us for about thousands of years. People have now started adopting these places to live, tour purpose and taking advantageous resources from them. All deserts have some things in common, the state of being dry, and arid unites all deserts.
There are many deserts present all around the world, which approximately constitutes
one-fifth of the whole planet earth. Millions or billions of people are living in such places now. The climate conditions vary from desert to desert making some good for living, while others are extremely hard. The top trucking companies in Atlanta, GA are made
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Whenever the word desert is heard it only gives up an image of sand all around but only 10% of the world’s deserts are covered in dunes. Deserts with mountains do exist. Others include dry rock expanses, dunes, and salt flats.
Types of deserts
If we talk about the type of desert there are mainly five types of desert present in the world. These are polar deserts also known as cold deserts, interior deserts present in the heart of continents, rain shadow deserts, coastal deserts which have better living conditions, and subtropical deserts. All these deserts are differentiated based on temperature variations, living conditions etc.
- Subtropical deserts:- As the name suggests these deserts are located in subtropical latitudes. In these deserts the summers are extremely hot, making living conditions extremely hard. But winters are relatively good. These types of deserts have a large difference in their day and night temperatures.
Sahara is one of the well-known examples of this desert, which joins the Arabian desert.
- Interior deserts:- In these types of deserts winters are very cold and summers are extremely hot. Interior deserts are located in the interiors of continents or we can also the heart of continents. One of the best examples of interior deserts is the gobi desert in Asia.
- Coastal deserts:- These deserts relatively provides less cold with lower amplitude, which makes living condition comparatively better as compared to other deserts. These deserts are present in intercostal areas. The famous coastal desert is the Namib desert in Namibia. and the second example would be Atacama deserts in chilli.
- Polar Deserts:- Presently there are only;y two deserts and polar deserts present in the world. The first one is the antarctic desert also known as the biggest desert in the world. This desert makes human existence impossible because of the cold climatic conditions. and another polar desert is the arctic desert, this region has better living conditions as compared to antarctic deserts and as a result is a more populated area.
- Rain shadow deserts:- The perfect example is the Patagonian desert when we talk about rain shadow deserts.
Which is the biggest desert in the world?
Antarctica desert
Antarctica desert is the biggest desert in the world. An interesting thing about this place is that here, after a snowfall the snow doesn’t melt but instead accumulates over many years to form ice sheets, which are broad, thick sheets of ice. This forming up of snow ultimately gives rise to any type of ice such as glaciers, ice shelves, and icebergs. In such a snowy region there do not grow any bushes or trees.
Antarctica is considered the coldest, windiest and the most lonely or remate area, where not even a single/less life can exist. This is also classified as a desert since the amount of precipitation through its interior is as low as 51 millimetres and the other reason is that there is not much snow or rain. Antarctic habitat includes pack ice, mountains and other surrounding areas.
Facts about Antarctica
- Antarctica is the place having the largest amount of fresh water.
- In the past, Antarctica was just as warm as Melbourne.
- One of the places on Earth that are warming up the fastest in the Antarctic Peninsula.
- There isn’t a time zone in Antarctica.
- Volcanoes are active in Antarctica.
The arid region of Antarctica is home to any animals?
As read earlier, this region makes living conditions extremely hard because of the cold climate. But even then there are some animals present. These animals are seals or the Antarctic fish and many more animals can be found in these areas. There are many bases established which work on knowing these animals living in such harsh conditions.
Other animals are:-
- Penguins wearing chin straps.
- The leopard seal.
- The elephant seal.
- Snow Petrels
- Emperor Penguins, King Penguins, etc.
- Whale killers (Orcas)
The killer whale, also known as the orca (Orcinus orca) can be easily found in the Antarctic region. It is well one of the known animal species living in such a region.
The climate in Antarctica desert
When the coldest place is concerned, the Antarctic region is at the top. This area in the middle months has the lowest temperature in the world. Even though the coast is warmer, summertime highs can range from -2 degrees celsius to 8 degrees celsius. The climatic condition which ranges from such degrees makes life impossible and not even trees and plants can survive in such an environment, no matter how much the water level is.
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Other deserts:-
The Arctic desert comes at the second position when we talk about the largest desert. The Arctic desert is also one of the coldest deserts. Snow makes up the majority of the precipitation in this area, with a total accumulation of less than 250mm. Arctic deserts come into the categories of polar deserts and consist of the characteristics which a polar desert includes.
The timing pattern of the sun is however the most interesting thing to notice. In the summer, the sun never sets for such a total of 60 days. Then, in the winter, there is a long period of darkness.
Third, comes the Sahara desert. IT is the third largest desert in the world. Here the average rainfall is nearly nonexistent, especially over the parts of the central and eastern desert. It is the best example for the type of a subtropical desert.
