Deserts are undoubtedly one of the most fascinating natural phenomena on our planet, among the numerous beauties that mother nature has to offer. Desert landscapes are characterized by regions with exceptionally little precipitation throughout the year. Life is extremely difficult for humans as well as for animals and plants due to this great shortage of rain. Only a few number of plants and animals are naturally able to endure these harsh circumstances.
The majority of people picture deserts as hot, arid places where all they can see is sand. True, the majority of deserts are quite hot. But there are also frigid deserts, or as they are sometimes called, “polar deserts.”
Around the two polar rings in the Arctic and Antarctica are these deserts. In actuality, cold deserts are much less hospitable to life and more inhospitable than hot deserts. Ice and snow alone might completely encircle the area. However, sand dunes can also be seen in cold deserts (non-Polar ones), which visually resemble hot deserts. Let’s examine the 10 largest deserts on the earth, including both hot deserts and cold deserts, in light of this backdrop.
01. Antarctic Desert
The largest desert in the world is the Antarctic Desert. The entire continent of Antarctica, which is situated over the South Pole, is covered by the Antarctic Desert, the largest desert in the world. The name of the region is accompanied by many more accolades than only the largest desert. The coldest, driest, windiest, and continent with the greatest average elevation in the globe is Antarctica. Only the coastline section of Antarctica experiences the region’s 20 millimetres of annual precipitation. Rain cannot fall on the continent due to the extreme cold; instead, raindrops freeze into tiny snowflakes and cover the vast ice sheets’ exterior.
02. Arctic Desert
The second-largest desert in the world, the frigid Arctic Desert is found in the planet’s northern polar area. The desert covers several island groups off the northern coasts of Russia and Norway, encompassing a region of the Arctic Ocean that is 2,000 km long from east to west and 1,000 km long from north to south. The Arctic Desert shares many of the same environmental characteristics as the Antarctic Desert, with the exception of a somewhat greater annual precipitation rate of 50 cm, or about the same as the Sahara.
03. Sahara Desert
In addition to its enormous expanse, the Sahara is known for its severe lack of rainfall. The second-largest desert in the world receives less than 0.9 inches (25 mm) of precipitation annually. NASA estimates that yearly rainfall on the east side of the desert may be as low as 0.2 inches (5 mm). Water rarely falls to the ground, but it frequently forms fog as it hovers over the desert. It can actually get rather cold at night in the Sahara because there isn’t much vegetation to trap heat once the sun sets. The fast change in temperature between day and night may be the cause of the fog.
04. Arabian Desert
Saudi Arabia, as well as the neighboring nations of Oman and some of Iraq, are all included in the Arabian Desert. Depending on where you are, the desert might be hot and dry. The desert’s interior can reach a blistering, dry 129 F. (54 C). According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, regions along the coast and in the mountains, however, have higher levels of humidity and may occasionally see fog and dew during the cooler hours of the day. Rainfall varies by region and averages less than 4 inches (100 mm) per year, although it can also range from 0 to 20 inches (0 to 500 mm). However, the desert has been artificially irrigated and partially greened by human activities.
05. Gobi Desert
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the Gobi Desert, which spans significant portions of China and Mongolia, is arid in some places and more “monsoon-like” in others, meaning it has both rainy and dry seasons. Depending on the area, annual rainfall ranges from 50 millimeters to 200 millimeters, or roughly 2 to 8 inches. In the summer, the eastern section in particular experiences heavy rainfall, much like monsoons do in wetter climates. A fantastic place to look for dinosaurs is the Gobi. In 2012, a rare Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton found in that area was auctioned off and brought in $1 million despite a legal fight.
06. Australian Desert
One of the largest deserts in the world is the enormous Australian Desert. The Australian Desert is the collective name for all of Australia’s deserts, including the Great Victoria Desert. About 18% of the Australian continent is covered by this desert, which is the sixth largest in the world. Australia is the driest continent in the world outside of Antarctica. A third of the continent, or around 35%, receives so little rain that it is almost considered a desert. Given how unevenly rainfall falls over the nation, it’s noteworthy to note that certain years Australia’s deserts technically receive more rain than is necessary to qualify as deserts.
07. Kalahari Desert
The seventh-largest desert in the world is the Kalahari Desert. Southern Africa is where it is located, and it includes most of Botswana as well as slivers of Namibia and South Africa. The Tswana term Kgala, which means “the great thirst,” is where the name of the desert originated. Simply said, the name of the place refers to the area’s natural features.
08. Desert of the Patagonian
The largest desert in South America and the seventh largest in the world is the Patagonian Desert, also known as the Patagonian Steppe. This entire area is covered with rocky shrubland and thorn thicket, and it is a harsh desert scrub steppe that is subject to year-round frosts and persistent winds. Nevertheless, a variety of animals, such as foxes, llamas, armadillos, and others, can be found in Patagonia.
09. Syrian Desert
Merriam-Webster calls the Syrian Desert a “arid wilderness.” The region, which includes a large portion of Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Syria, is characterized by lava flows and, until recently, was a “impenetrable barrier” to mankind. The area now has motorways and oil pipelines running through it, and its average annual rainfall is less than 5 inches (125 mm).
10. Great Basin Desert
The Great Basin is a “cold” desert, which means that most of the precipitation falls as snow. This distinguishes it from every other desert in the United States. Its geographic range encompasses the majority of Nevada, a portion of Utah, and fragments of other neighboring states. The region receives between 6 and 12 inches (150 and 300 mm) of rain per year. According to the National Park Service, the Sierra Nevada Mountains in eastern California’s rain shadow caused the area to become a desert. In turn, the desert has an impact on the region around it. Frequently, the powerful Santa Ana winds, which originate in the Great Basin’s high pressure regions, blow into Southern California.
Although the entire surface of Earth is habitable, some regions are marginally more hostile to life than others. The plants and animals in deserts, which are regions with less than 10 inches (254 millimeters) of rain or snow yearly, must survive on this scant amount of water. The ten largest deserts in the world can be found on almost every continent, and many of them developed under the shadow of massive mountain ranges that kept adjacent oceans or other sources of water from supplying them with moisture. They frequently contain strange rock formations and, occasionally, stunning archaeological artifacts.
