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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]
A satellite image of the Sahara, the world's largest hot desert and third largest desert after Antarctica and the Arctic. Desert greening is the process of afforestation or revegetation of deserts for ecological restoration (biodiversity), sustainable farming and forestry, but also for reclamation of natural water systems and other ecological systems that support life.
Deforestation, and conversion of grasslands to desert, may also lead to cooling of the regional climate. This is because of the albedo effect (sunlight reflected by bare ground) during the day, and rapid radiation of heat into space at night, due to the lack of vegetation and atmospheric moisture. [18]
(CNN) — Striking images from the Sahara Desert show large lakes etched into rolling sand dunes after one of the most arid, barren places in the world was hit with its first floods in decades ...
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.
For instance, it might be difficult to tell if desertification or desert expansion is the result of climate change or human activity. [19] Desertification in Africa is exacerbated by human factors such as deforestation, overgrazing, and unsustainable farming methods such as monoculture and excessive use of chemical fertilizers.
Covering 14.2% of Earth's land area, hot deserts are the second-most common type of climate on Earth after the Polar climate. [1] There are two variations of a desert climate according to the Köppen climate classification: a hot desert climate (BWh), and a cold desert climate (BWk).
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.