{"id":6576,"date":"2026-10-02T12:17:47","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T10:17:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yetiz.dev.yetiz.pl\/?p=6576"},"modified":"2026-10-02T12:19:02","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T10:19:02","slug":"world-deserts-more-than-sand-and-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yetiz.dev.yetiz.pl\/en\/world-deserts-more-than-sand-and-heat\/","title":{"rendered":"World deserts \u2013 more than sand and heat"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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A desert is not just sand<\/h2>\n

Deserts cover about one third of the Earth\u2019s land surface<\/strong>. What makes an area a desert is rainfall, not temperature: it receives less than roughly 250 mm of rain a year<\/em>. That is why the largest desert in the world is icy Antarctica, not the hot Sahara.<\/p>\n

Types of deserts<\/h3>\n
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  • hot<\/strong>, such as the Sahara or the Arabian Desert,<\/li>\n
  • cold<\/strong>, such as the Gobi, where winter temperatures fall below -30\u00b0C,<\/li>\n
  • polar<\/strong>, meaning Antarctica and the Arctic,<\/li>\n
  • coastal<\/strong>, such as the Atacama in Chile or the Namib in Africa.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n\n\r\n
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    approx. 1\/3<\/h3>\n

    of the land surface is desert<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n \r\n

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    approx. 9 million km\u00b2<\/h3>\n

    is covered by the Sahara<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n \r\n

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    56.7\u00b0C<\/h3>\n

    was recorded in Death Valley<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n\n\r\n

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    Sahara<\/h3>\n

    The largest hot desert in the world. Only part of it is dunes; the rest is stony plains and mountains.<\/p>\n\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n

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    Atacama<\/h3>\n

    One of the driest places on Earth. Some weather stations have recorded no rain for decades.<\/p>\n\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n

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    B\u0142\u0119d\u00f3w Desert<\/h3>\n

    Poland\u2019s own \u201cdesert\u201d in Lesser Poland. Its sands were left by a glacier and are slowly being overgrown by vegetation.<\/p>\n\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    Desert<\/th>Continent<\/th>Type<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
    Antarctica<\/td>Antarctica<\/td>polar<\/td><\/tr>
    Sahara<\/td>Africa<\/td>hot<\/td><\/tr>
    Gobi<\/td>Asia<\/td>cold<\/td><\/tr>
    Atacama<\/td>South America<\/td>coastal<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\r\n
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    How to survive in a desert<\/h2>\n

    Desert plants and animals have developed clever ways of coping with a lack of water:<\/p>\n

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    • cacti<\/strong> store water in fleshy stems and have turned their leaves into spines,<\/li>\n
    • camels<\/strong> can go for many days without drinking,<\/li>\n
    • the fennec fox<\/strong> releases excess heat through its large ears,<\/li>\n
    • many animals hunt at night<\/em>, when it is cooler.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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      In the desert, water is the most precious thing, and shade comes right after it.<\/p>\nTravellers\u2019 rule<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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