Deserts of the World | Learn interesting facts about different deserts from around the world

Deserts of the world for kids Hey kids when I mention the word desert what comes to mind? Probably a piece of cake or a tasty pie or a delicious hot fudge sundae Oh wait, that's dessert with two S's Sorry my mistake this video is supposed to be about deserts with one S. Let's start over When I mention the word desert what comes to mind? Maybe a dry sandy place with no living things other than camels and scorpions or cactus plants sand dunes and a beating hot Sun Well, all of those can be found in the deserts of the world, but there's also so much more to our planets deserts believe it or not about 20% or one-fifth of the earth is made up of deserts and they exist on every continent in fact Antarctica itself is a desert of course there are no camels in Antarctica It's definitely not hot there, and there's no cactus plants or sand dunes So what is it that makes a desert a desert? well, it's all about the amount of precipitation that falls every year a Desert is any landmass where there is a deficit of moisture Meaning that there is more water evaporating than falling from the sky Deserts typically receive less than 10 inches of precipitation per year Which makes life in these dry places really difficult for plants animals and people there are four types of deserts on Earth hot and dry deserts semi-arid deserts coastal deserts and cold deserts Most deserts occur at low altitudes like Death Valley in California Which is one of the most famous desert locations in the world Its lowest point is an amazing 282 feet below sea level Imagine being that far below the ocean, but still being on land in Death Valley the temperature has been known to hit a hundred and twenty degrees Fahrenheit in the summer You better pack your sunscreen Other parts of the Mojave Desert are actually considered high desert and exist at altitudes of up to 4,000 feet and in Mongolia, there are parts of the Gobi Desert that sit at almost 5,000 feet Almost all of the animals and plants that live in the deserts of the world have special adaptations That allow them to survive with very little water and to do well at temperatures that are often very hot or very cold The soil that exists in the desert is typically full of nutrients Because it needs only water to become very productive and has little or no organic matter Can you think of animals other than camels that are known to live in the desert? What do they all have in common? lizards rodents like kangaroo mice snakes Insects and ground birds like Roadrunners if you guess that they're all small you're right Small animals don't need to store as much water as large ones so they can survive in desert environments Camels are an exception to this rule and are especially adapted to live in hot dry places There's a reason they have that hump to store water Now, let's talk about the four types of deserts in the world Starting with hot and dry in hot and dry deserts. It's warm all year round But very hot and dry in the summer winters bring very little rainfall other than short bursts and The plants there are mainly short ground dwelling shrubs and short woody trees the animals in hot and dry deserts are mostly nocturnal such as the burrowing rodents and Kangaroo rats the Mojave Desert in California is an example of a hot and dry desert Next you have your semi-arid deserts in these deserts It's not as hot in the summer and in the winter you get low concentrations of rain Even temps can get cold in these deserts which helps animals do better there Plants are mostly spiny glossy or silvery and it supports animals like rabbits skunks reptiles and birds an Example of a semi-arid desert is a sagebrush region of the West in states like Montana, Wyoming and Utah Coastal deserts have cool winters and long warm summers and the average about three to five inches of rain per year Plants have extensive root systems close to the surface and are mostly small bushes and sage animals that live there include amphibians insects coyotes badgers owls eagles and reptiles the Namib Desert in Africa and The Atacama Desert in Chile are examples of coastal deserts Finally you have your cold deserts these deserts experience long cold winters with six to ten inches of snow More rain than other deserts and really short summers The soil there is not conducive to plants As it's mostly silty salty and heavy only about 10% of the ground there it's covered by short spiny leaved plants and you can find jackrabbits various mice and rats and coyotes an Example of the cold desert is a Gobi Desert in northern China and Mongolia While we put deserts in those four main categories, it's important to remember that the earth has a wide variety of ecosystems So depending on where the deserts are located the types of plants and animals can vary from place to place Check out this map. It shows you the major deserts of the world the two biggest deserts on earth can be found at the poles in Antarctica and the Arctic the desert of Antarctica Covers five million five hundred thousand square miles and the Arctic is almost the same size at five million 400,000 square miles Kind of goes without saying they're both considered cold deserts in Antarctica the entire continent is a desert and temperatures can range from minus 67 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter and 59 degrees in the summer. Here's a tip. It's not a great idea to wear shorts in Antarctica Precipitation is typically less than 8 inches per year The Arctic Desert partially occupies countries such as Canada, Norway Sweden, Russia and the United States That's right. We've got Arctic Desert up in Alaska precipitation is usually snow and Temperatures can drop to as low as 40 degrees below zero There are a lot of deserts in the world Some of the most famous being the Sahara and Northern Africa the Great Victoria Desert in Australia the Arabian and Western Asia and the Sonoran Colorado Plateau and Great Basin deserts all here in the US Can you guess which each of those deserts is like? Let's start with the Sahara in North Africa at 3.5 million square miles in size. It's the largest hot desert in the world it's known for its large sand dunes the Nile River which flows through it and Land area that's constantly changing due to winds The Arabian Desert which is depicted in movies like Aladdin is about 900,000 square miles and engulfs much of Yemen Persian Gulf Oman Jordan and Iraq Much of the world's supply of oil Comes from the Arabian Desert and its center forms the largest continuous body of sand in the world Known as the empty quarter. It's hot during the day and cool at night in Australia the Great Victoria Desert covers about 220,000 square miles and does not look like your typical desert They actually have thunderstorms there which give the desert its 8 to 10 inches of precipitation per year This desert is home to many animals including rock wallabies parrots snakes camels and bilbies The three most famous deserts in the US are the Sonoran desert in the southwest The Great Basin desert further north and the Colorado Plateau desert The Sonoran desert is about a hundred thousand square miles and is home to cities like Phoenix, Arizona Summer temps can hit a hundred and eighteen degrees and you can find Saguaro Cactuses lining the landscape these cactuses can live to be 200 years old The desert supports lots of animal species with 65 types of mammals 340 species of birds and 2,500 plant species The Great Basin desert is the largest in the u.s. At a hundred and ninety thousand square miles and is bordered by the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada Range This is a cold desert and has snowy winters and dry hot summers the Colorado Plateau desert Covers about a hundred and thirty thousand square miles and is the only place in the u.s. Where four states touch Colorado Utah, New Mexico and Arizona It has warm summers and cold winters The most famous landmark in this desert is the spectacular Grand Canyon It's also home to the amazing Red Rocks of Sedona as you can see Deserts all have their own amazing features Landscapes not seen anywhere else in the world and the unique ecosystem with some amazing plants and animals So there you have it the deserts I Mean deserts of the world. I hope this video Wasn't too dry Thanks for following Clarendon learning be sure to subscribe For more free resources check us out at Clarendon learning org