Global Distribution of Deserts
The world’s deserts are divided into four categories. Subtropical deserts are the hottest, with parched terrain and rapid evaporation. Although cool coastal deserts are located within the same latitudes as subtropical deserts, the average temperature is much cooler because of frigid offshore ocean currents.
Cold winter deserts are marked by stark temperature differences from season to season, ranging from 100°F (38°C) in the summer to 10°F (~12°C) in the winter. Polar Regions are also considered to be deserts because nearly all moisture in these areas is locked up in the form of ice.
The world’s major deserts in different continents are (i) Sahara, Saudi Arabia, East Africa, Namibia, Kalahari in the African continent, (ii) the Thar, Taklamakan and Gobi in the Asian continent, (iii) the Great Sandy and Simpson deserts in Australia, (iv) Mojavet, Sonaran and Chiliuahan in North America, and (v) Peruvian, Atacama, Patagontan in South America. Oceanic deserts exist in the equatorial central and eastern Pacific tropical high-pressure belts in north and south Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, in the South Indian Ocean and over Western and Central Arabian Sea. Coastal marine deserts exist off the major ocean upwelling regions or where cold ocean currents prevail.
