WORLD'S MAJOR DESERTS
Scientists define
deserts as areas which have less than 250mm (10 in) of rain a year. They
include not only the hot deserts listed, but also cold deserts such as
Greenland, Antartica and northern Russia. A third type, known as an
edaphic desert, is one where despite an adequate rainfall, the soil is too poor
to support plants. Edaphic deserts occur on some volcanic islands, in
parts of Iceland and on the Colorado plateau in the USA. Cold deserts cover 16
percent of the world's land surface. Hot and edaphic deserts account for a
further 18 % a total of 34 %, or just over a third of the world's land.
The driest spot on
Earth is the Atacama Desert in South America Parts went without rain for 400
years from 1570 to 1971.
Copyright © achichu.com,
Achichu.com. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent
of achichu.com
|
|
