1 : arid land with usually sparse vegetation especially : such land having a very warm climate and receiving less than 25 centimeters (10 inches) of sporadic rainfall annually. 2 : an area of water apparently devoid of life. 3 : a desolate or forbidding area lost in a desert of doubt.
What is a desert for kids?
A desert is a place where almost no rain falls . Some deserts are huge areas of sand or flat, stony ground, while others have rocky hills and mountains.
What is a desert answer?
A desert is any location on Earth that receives less than ten inches of rain per year . Deserts are extremely dry and may be either very hot or very cold. Hot deserts are extremely hot during the day and cold at night. ... Dunes are a good example of how a desert can change constantly.
Why is the desert important?
The dry condition of deserts helps promote the formation and concentration of important minerals . Gypsum, borates, nitrates, potassium and other salts build up in deserts when water carrying these minerals evaporates. ... Desert regions also hold 75 percent of known oil reserves in the world.
What are the 4 types of deserts?
The four main types of desert include hot and dry deserts, semi-arid deserts, coastal deserts, and cold deserts .
What are 5 facts about the desert?
- A desert receives less than 10 inches of rain a year.
- A lot of the animals that live in the desert are nocturnal.
- The Sahara is the largest hot desert on Earth.
- Antarctica is the largest cold desert on Earth.
- 20 percent of the world’s land surface is desert.
What is special about the desert?
Hot deserts usually feature high temperatures in the daytime and cold temperatures at night. Deserts have very low humidity . Despite the extreme conditions, deserts are home to a range of well suited plant life including various shrubs and cacti. They are also home to animals such as lizards and coyote.
What if there were no deserts?
If there were no deserts, all of the life (plants and animals) that are adapted to a desert environment would either 1) die, or 2) adapt to a different environment in order to survive. Answer 3: Deserts form because of the location of mountains and because of the way air circulates around the planet.
How do humans impact the desert?
Human exploitation of fragile ecosystems can lead to the droughts and arid conditions characteristic of desertification. Effects include land degradation, soil erosion and sterility , and a loss of biodiversity, with huge economic costs for nations where deserts are growing.
What are the disadvantages of deserts?
Lack of water , the most evident disadvantage to deserts in general, results from the combined effects of insufficient rainfall and rapid water evaporation by nearby land masses. The rate of rainfall rarely exceeds the rate of evaporation, and it is not uncommon for rain to vaporize even before hitting the ground.
What is the deadliest desert?
The Atacama Desert , South America:
The driest desert of the world, Atacama is surely the most dangerous desert of all.
What do all desert animals have in common?
Nocturnal desert animals keep cool by being active at night, whereas some other desert animals get away from the sun’s heat by digging underground burrows. Other common adaptations seen in desert animals include big ears, light-colored coats, humps to store fat , and adaptations that help conserve water.
What causes a desert?
Some deserts are found on the western edges of continents. They are caused by cold ocean currents , which run along the coast. They cool the air and make it harder for the air to hold moisture. ... Some deserts form in the rain shadow of mountains, eg the Atacama Desert is located in the rain shadow of the Andes.
How do you describe a desert?
A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to the processes of denudation. About one-third of the land surface of the Earth is arid or semi-arid.
What is the world’s largest desert?
World’s largest deserts
The largest desert on earth is the Antarctic desert , covering the continent of Antarctica with a size of around 5.5 million square miles.
