What is the desert

the desert

The desert is a barren geographic region characterized by a scarcity of rain, as the rate of rain may reach less than 25 mm annually, and therefore the weather conditions in it are hostile to the animal and plant life due to the lack of fruitful and seasonal plants and the lack of water levels, and scientists know the desert according to the amount of rain that falls on it, or The prevailing temperature or the type of soil and the types of plants growing there. Scientists may combine all these elements to define the desert, and some deserts are classified as cold deserts because they arise in polar regions with little rain.

Life in the desert

There is less life in the desert, and people in it who adapt to its harsh conditions live in it, in the Arab world they are called Bedouins, and life in the desert is characterized by the following:

Population

The nomadic pastoralists who live in tents and live on grazing of sheep and cattle live in the desert, and they are characterized by moving from one place to another seeking water and grazing, according to the definitions of the Arabic language, the Bedouins are against the urban, and the desert is different from the present among the Arabs and others, and the Bedouins in the Arabian Peninsula are distinguished by camel breeding and some Sheep, practicing their customs and traditions far and separate from the civic or village life rituals.

the plants

Some plants, such as aloe vera, live in the desert, where thorns in the cactus plant form a fence of barbed wire, in order to provide protection for them and prevent the animals from eating them.

the animals

The desert contains a large number of insects, spiders, reptiles, birds, and mammals, as some wild animals such as elk come to rain when the rains fall, and the most important animals that live in desert conditions are camels, because camel hump is a repository of large amounts of fats and water, and he can live and benefit from these Energy for several days and weeks, and camels can drink more than 100 liters of water within 10 minutes.

Climate in the desert

Desert areas are characterized by high temperatures because they absorb the heat of the sun. In the summer, the temperature reaches 38 ° C, then it decreases at night until it reaches 25 ° C. In winter, temperatures range between 10 and 21 ° C, and the highest temperature has been recorded The world is in the Desert Valley desert area of ​​California, where the temperature has reached 134.1 degrees Fahrenheit.

The most famous deserts in the world

• The Great Desert: It is a desert that constitutes the largest part of the northern region of the continent of Africa, and it is the largest hot desert in the world, with an area of ​​about 9 million square kilometers, which is a natural barrier between North and Central Africa.
• Australian desert: The Australian desert covers about 1.7 million km 2 of Australian land, and extends between 20 ° and 30 ° latitude.
• Antarctic Desert: It is an icy desert covered by about 90% ice, and the average thickness of ice is 2 km, and its area is about 14 million km 2.
• Deserts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: The majority of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is characterized by sand dunes, and some of its lands may be covered by large waves of sand. The Kingdom contains three large deserts: influence in the North, the Empty Quarter in the South, and the Dahna Desert in the East.