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Animals adapted to live in deserts are called xerocoles. There is no evidence that body temperature of mammals and birds is adaptive to the different climates, either of great heat or cold. In fact, with a very few exceptions, their basal metabolic rate is determined by body size, irrespective of the climate in which they live. [80]
Semiarid deserts experience similar conditions to hot deserts, however, the maximum and minimum temperatures tend to be less extreme, and generally range from 10 to 38 °C. Coastal deserts are cooler than hot and semiarid deserts, with average summer temperatures ranging between 13 and 24 °C.
The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification BWh and BWk) is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert climates are dry and hold little moisture, quickly evaporating the already little rainfall they receive.
Tropical deserts are located in regions between 15 and 30 degrees latitude. The environment is very extreme, and they have the highest average monthly temperature on Earth . Rainfall is sporadic; precipitation may not be observed at all in a few years.
The impact of climate change and human activities on desertification are exemplified in the Sahel region of Africa. The region is characterized by a dry hot climate, high temperatures and low rainfall (100–600 mm per year). [44] So, droughts are the rule in the Sahel region. [45]
This list of North American deserts identifies areas of the continent that receive less than 10 in (250 mm) annual precipitation. The "North American Desert" is also the term for a large U.S. Level 1 ecoregion (EPA) [ 1 ] of the North American Cordillera , in the Deserts and xeric shrublands biome (WWF).
Many deserts, such as the Sahara, are hot year-round, but others, such as East Asia's Gobi Desert, become quite cold during the winter. [1] Temperature extremes are a characteristic of most deserts. High daytime temperatures give way to cold nights because there is no insulation provided by humidity and cloud cover. The diversity of climatic ...
Ancient dry riverbeds—called omuramba—traverse the central northern reaches of the Kalahari and provide standing pools of water during the rainy season. A semi-desert, with huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains, the Kalahari supports more animals and plants than a true desert, such as the Namib Desert to the west. There is ...