What are Deserts? Deserts are very dry places. It hardly ever rains in a desert!

They are hot in the day but cold at night. What Is a Desert?

A desert is any place that gets less than 25cm of rainfall a year.

ThereDeserts are cover deserts over on 1/5 all of the continents.world’s land surface.

Deserts are part of a land type called drylands. These areas often lose more moisture through evaporation than they get in rainfall. Desert - Location

Deserts are large, extremely dry areas of land without much vegetation (plant growth). Many are located near the Tropic of Cancer or the Tropic of Capricorn. Deserts are commonly located in Africa, Eastern Europe and Australia. Some countries with deserts include Libya, Mexico and China. A well-known example of a desert is the Sahara Desert in Africa. Where Are Deserts?

Here are some of the world’s largest deserts.

Sahara Gobi

Patagonia Syrian

Kalahari Arabian Great Victoria Hot and Cold Deserts Deserts are very dry places. Some deserts are hot but some are very cold! The Antarctic and the Arctic are two cold deserts!

Did You Know…? The hottest desert in the world is the Sahara Desert in Africa. Desert - Climate

The climate of a desert is usually dry, hot and sunny all year round. The annual rainfall in a desert is less than 250 millilitres per year. In a desert, the temperature can change dramatically between day and night. During the day, the average temperature is 40°C. The night the temperature can reach as low as 0°C.

Thar Desert - India What Are Deserts Like?

We tend to think that all deserts are hot. The Sahara regularly has temperatures of 50°C during the day. The highest recorded temperature in Death Valley in the USA was 56.7°C.

Some deserts however are actually cold. Winter temperatures in the Gobi desert can reach -40°C. The world’s largest deserts are in the Arctic and Antarctic.

The Gobi Desert

Did You Know? Only 20% of the earth’s deserts are covered in sand.