Climate Scientist Explains Why Deserts Form Near 30 Degrees and Reach 134 F
Updated
Updated · The Conversation · Jul 20
Climate Scientist Explains Why Deserts Form Near 30 Degrees and Reach 134 F
2 articles · Updated · The Conversation · Jul 20
Summary
134 F in Death Valley and 177.4 F on Iran’s Lute Desert ground show how extreme desert heat can get, a climate scientist said in explaining where deserts form and why they become so hot.
Less than 10 inches of yearly precipitation defines a desert, not temperature, which is why even Antarctica qualifies despite winter averages near minus 75 F.
Most hot deserts cluster around 30 degrees north and south because global air circulation makes air sink there, warming it and drying it out before rain can form.
Dry air, cloudless skies, heat-absorbing sand and rock, and little evaporative cooling from plants let desert surfaces heat rapidly by day and lose warmth quickly at night.
Global warming is making many deserts hotter, drier and more expansive through desertification, though some regions including parts of the Thar and Sahara fringes are seeing partial greening.