About Deserts
1. Deserts cover about one-fifth of the Earth's land surface, with half of this area consisting of the dry deserts of Antarctica.
2. In sandy deserts, it is very hot during the day and cold at night, sometimes even frost occurs.
3. It is quite possible to fry a chicken egg on the scorching sand in the desert during the day.
4. Dust storms are born in deserts. Australia is particularly affected by these natural disasters.
5. Deserts are constantly moving; dunes shift at an average rate of 7-10 meters per year.
6. Some dunes in sandy deserts reach heights of two to three hundred meters.
7. The largest desert in the world is the Sahara, located in Africa, covering over 9 million square kilometers, which is just slightly less than the area of the United States. Interestingly, scientists claim that the area now known as the Sahara was once very fertile.
8. In Brazil, there is a unique desert called Lençóis Maranhenses, which is interspersed with lagoons of clear blue water. The sight is truly amazing—a combination of sand dunes and transparent water.
9. The smallest desert is Carcross, located in Canada. Its area is only 2.6 square kilometers.
10. In the United States, in the state of New Mexico, lies the largest gypsum desert in the world—White Sands. Its area exceeds 700 square kilometers.
11. The largest salt flat desert in the world is called Salar de Uyuni. It is located in high-altitude Bolivia and is estimated to contain about 10 billion tons of salt.
12. The driest desert is the Atacama, located in Chile. It receives an average of about 1 millimeter of precipitation per year. It is so dry here that even on mountain peaks at an altitude of 6.5 kilometers, there are no glaciers.
13. In the Taklamakan Desert in China, it sometimes snows. Once, it snowed for eleven consecutive days.
14. The Simpson Desert in Australia is characterized by its red sand, so Australians usually refer to it simply as the "Red Desert."
15. In the Sahara Desert, a recorded air temperature of +58 degrees Celsius was once noted.
