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A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the land surface of the Earth is arid or semi-arid.
Deserts occupy one-fifth of the Earth's land surface and occur in two belts: between 15° and 35° latitude in both the southern and northern hemispheres. [2] These bands are associated with the high solar intensities that all areas in the tropics receive, and with the dry air brought down by the descending arms of both the Hadley and Ferell ...
Anthropogenic climate change has the potential to greatly alter the distribution of Earth's biomes. [34] [35] Meaning, biomes around the world could change so much that they would be at risk of becoming new biomes entirely. [36] More specifically, between 54% and 22% of global land area will experience climates that correspond to other biomes.
Deserts and xeric (Ancient Greek ξηρός xērós 'dry') shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. [2] Ecoregions in this habitat type vary greatly in the amount of annual rainfall they receive, usually less than 250 millimetres (10 in) annually except in the margins.
This is a list of the largest deserts in the world by area. It includes all deserts above 50,000 km 2 (19,300 sq mi). Some of Earth 's biggest non-polar deserts
Gulf of Oman desert and semi-desert: Oman, United Arab Emirates: Hobyo grasslands and shrublands: Somalia: Ile Europa and Bassas da India xeric scrub: Bassas da India, Europa: Kalahari xeric savanna: Botswana, Namibia, South Africa: Kaokoveld desert: Angola, Namibia: Madagascar spiny thickets: Madagascar: Madagascar succulent woodlands: Madagascar
The terrestrial scheme divides the Earth's land surface into 8 biogeographic realms, containing 867 smaller ecoregions. Each ecoregion is classified into one of 14 major habitat types , or biomes . In 2017 the WWF team revised ecosystem names and boundaries in the Arabian Peninsula, drier African regions, and Southeastern United States.
The Sahara Desert is the world's largest hot, non-polar desert and is located in North Africa. It extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Sahel savanna in the south. [2] The vast desert encompasses several ecologically distinct regions.