climate zones:
| Cold Zone | Temperate Zone | Subtropic Zone | Tropical Zone | Mountains - Valleys |
The deserts
Characterisation
| Location | between 15. and 35. latitude |
| max. precipitation | 125 mm a year (0 - 2 humid months) |
| Temperature | fluctuation up to 50°C daily |
| Types | sand-, stone- & rocky desert |
The 3 biggest deserts
- Sahara
Surface: 9 Mio. square kilometer
The climate is extremely dry and hot. The passat wind, which brings little precipitation, mostly blows during the whole year. The only long-term river is the Nile which crosses the Sahara in the east. The extreme temperatures from during the day up to 60 °C and high variations from up to 30 °C between day and night contribute among other things to the wild education. At night in winter are measured up to −10 °C. The average amount of precipitation in the Sahara amounts to approx. 45.5 mm. Nevertheless, during some years it does not rain at all. |
- Gobi
Surface: 1,2 Mio square kilometers
The climate of the desert Gobi is continental, with extremely low temperatures in winter and hot summers. The differences in temperature between day and night sway about the whole year strongly, because of the missing water and vegetation. During the winter months the days in which the thermometer falls less than −40 °C. Although in the southeast runners of the monsoon reach the steppe ruling there, the area with 30 to 200 mm of precipitaion per year is marked by dryness. Particularly the cold winters are very dry at the same time. Nevertheless, it can also come in the spring and early summer to icy sandy pileworks and blizzards. Das Klima der Wüste Gobi ist kontinental, mit extrem niedrigen Temperaturen im Winter und heißen Sommern. Die Temperaturunterschiede zwischen Tag und Nacht schwanken über das ganze Jahr stark, wegen den fehlendem Wasser und Vegetation. In den Wintermonaten gibt es Tage, an denen das Thermometer auf unter −40 °C fällt. Obwohl im Südosten Ausläufer des Monsuns die dort vorherrschende Steppe erreichen, ist das Gebiet mit 30 bis 200 mm Niederschlag pro Jahr durch Trockenheit geprägt. Besonders die kalten Winter sind gleichzeitig sehr trocken. Es kann jedoch auch im Frühling und frühen Sommer zu eisigen Sand- und Schneestürmen kommen. |
- Ar-Rub' al-Khali
Surface: 0,8 Mio. square kilometers
The precipitation amounts less than 50 mm per year. Hence, the desert is classed as hyperarid. The temperatures of this tropic desert can sway from the freezing point at night up to 60 °C during the day. In spite of the hard conditions the sandy desert shows own ecological system. Thus are able in the whole desert spiders, rodents and some, even if a few, botanical species are found. |
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