Desert
Essay No :- 01
Desert is a large area of land that has very little water and very few plants growing on it. Many deserts in the world are covered by send. When we think of a desert, we imagine hot, dry and barren areas without water. It is usually believed that desert is a region that receives very little rainfall. More precisely, a desert is a region where more water is lost through evaporation than it gains from rainfall.
Camels are known as, ‘ship of the deserts’ because they can move across desert sands easily. They are important mode of transportation for people in desert areas. They can eat almost anything and drink from waterholes that are bitter or salty. Waterholes are places in a hot region where animals go to drink water. Usually around the water source, a small area of desert oasis is found. Oases are formed from underground rivers. The water reaches the surface due to the pressure, or due to a special draw-well.
The Sahara in the Middle East is the largest desert in the world. It covers art area of 3,500,000 square miles and has a population of two million people. The Gobi-desert in Asia has the harshest climatic conditions with extreme temperature as low as 40° below the freezing point in winter to 100° Fahrenheit in the summer.
Deserts are areas that receive annual rainfall of less than 250 millimeters. They have rough textured soils due to the influence of weathering. Plants in the deserts are in the form of shrubs or thorny woody. Moreover, animals in deserts have light colour skin and birds have light colour feathers.
In high atmospheric pressure regions, cold and dry air blows from the higher altitudes closer to land. The air is heated by the Sun and this causes low humidity and high ground temperature. Deserts are also formed where there are two mountain ranges on either side. This prevents the ocean air from reaching the land.
Deserts can be classified into four types. Hot and dry deserts are very hot throughout the year. They receive very less rainfall. Plants in such deserts consist of woody trees and ground shrubs. Animals in these deserts come out at night when the temperature is low. Semi-arid deserts are warmer and receive low rainfall. Cacti are their native plants. Lizards and small animals are found here. Coastal deserts have a cool to warm environment. Such climate is suitable for certain plants and other creatures. Cold deserts are sandy in nature. They are formed due to locations in far interior continental regions. The areas of extreme cold climate such as Antarctica and Arctic in two Poles are regarded as cold deserts. In India, Ladakh is considered as a cold desert.
Essay No :- 02
Desert
A desert is a place that has few, or sometimes even no, life forms. Sometimes life forms adapt to living in deserts, but conditions tend to be extreme, and survival is challenging. Some deserts can be visited but not lived in. Some deserts are so inhospitable that life as we know it cannot survive in them at all. In terms of rainfall, areas that receive less than ten inches of rain a year are considered to be deserts. Some deserts receive only three or four inches of rain a year. A few places do not receive any rain at all. When we think about deserts, we think about limiting factors. These factors include: Liquid Water: On earth, liquid water is necessary for life. Some life forms survive periods when water is not available by becoming spores or seeds, or by becoming dormant (hibernation). Some plants can survive for many years as seeds. Insects and unicellular life forms can also wait out drought. Sooner or later, however, liquid water is necessary. Survival is essential, but it is not all of life. Without growth and reproduction, life is on hold, not progressing. Salinity can also interfere with an organism’s use of water.
