In existing deserts, some species are in peril because of climate change. In northern China, growing urbanization, which left much of the land unprotected against wind erosion and the buildup of sediment from the surrounding desert, created a desertification problem, prompting the government to build a " great green wall" as a hedge against encroaching desert. The pounding of the soil by the hooves of livestock in ranching, for example, may degrade the soil and encourage erosion by wind and water. This process, known as desertification, is not caused by drought, but usually arises from deforestation and the demands of human populations that settle on the semi-arid lands. Some of the world's semi-arid regions are turning into desert at an alarming rate. Other plants, such as cacti, have special means of storing and conserving water. Some plants have adapted to the arid climate by growing long roots that tap water from deep underground. Because of their very special adaptations, desert animals are extremely vulnerable to changes in their habitat.ĭesert plants may have to go without fresh water for years at a time. And among insects, the Namibian desert beetle can harvest fog from the air for water. Most desert birds are nomadic, crisscrossing the skies in search of food. Some animals, like the desert tortoise in the southwestern United States, spend much of their time underground. Many desert animals, such as the fennec fox, are nocturnal, coming out to hunt only when the brutal sun has descended. Camels can go for weeks without water, and their nostrils and eyelashes can form a barrier against sand. Desert animals and plantsĭesert animals have evolved ways to help them keep cool and use less water. On the other hand, every few years, an unusually rainy period can produce "super blooms," where even the Atacama becomes blanketed in wildflowers. Such environments are so harsh and otherworldly that scientists have even studied them for clues about life on Mars. 08 inches (2 mm) of precipitation a year. The driest deserts, such as Chile's Atacama Desert, have parts that receive less than. Only about 20 percent of deserts are covered by sand. But some deserts are always cold, like the Gobi desert in Asia and the polar deserts of the Antarctic and Arctic, which are the world's largest. The largest hot desert in the world, northern Africa's Sahara, reaches temperatures of up to 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius) during the day. Despite the common conceptions of deserts as hot, there are cold deserts as well.
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