Desert
Canton Mackan
Location
Deserts cover about one fifth of the earth's surface. There is such thing as cold deserts too. Deserts are in Antarctica, North America, Africa, Colorado, and many more locations.
General Characteristics
Deserts are very hot or very cold. Most of the time they have little water and are very dry. Plant and animal life in deserts is scarce. Most things have adapted to this kind of environment.
Weather and Climate
Most deserts have arid climates. "Hot deserts" are dry with little rain fall. They can have get frost on the ground during cold nights but is very unlikely. "Cold deserts" are cold and dry. They have frost on the ground and sometimes it snows.
Temperature
"Coastal deserts" or "hot deserts" have cool winters which are 41*F or below. In the summer it is 55* to 75*F. In "cold deserts" in winters it can be -5* to -110*F. In the Summer it can be a balmy 32*F.
Precipitation
Deserts get little rainfall in the winter. Rain is often soft, and for short periods of time. Evaporation rates are usually faster then rainfall rates. And the rain can evaporate before even touching the ground. Most deserts get less then 10 inches.
Mountains
There are many mountains in the desert. They are not the mountains we think of. They are very ridged and covered in sand.
Bodies of Water
There are many bodies of water in deserts Like deserts, lakes,ponds, and oceans. There are lakes and ponds in deserts like the ones in Peru, Niger, and other places. Oceans are beside deserts in California.
Canyons
A deep ridge, carved into landscape by a river. They usally have hard rock on both sides of the eroding rock. This makes the water cut vertical but not horizontal.
Animals
Most desert animals are cold blooded. Mammals in the desert are small animals. Some rodents build there home out of cactus. Desert animals consist of lizards, snakes, small rodent, and more.
Plants
Desert plants have adapted ways to stay alive. They store water in needles, or inthere hollow inside. There waxy insides don't let water escape. Most plants seeds stay alive underground for along time before it rains. And there spines keep animals from eating them. These all are examples of how plants adapted to the desert.
Castastropic events
Some Catastrophic events in the desert can be. Sand storms, when the wind blows sand around in a violent way. This can hurt many plants and animals and be bad for humans living in the area. Or exasperation being 7 to 50 times more then prescription. This can cause no rainfall for a very long time.
Human impact
Humans can impact the desert by taking water from the desert for farming use. This can use up all the water since it is scarce there. Dirt biking can pollute the soil. It can be damaged by roads, industries or mines also.