Hobbies And Interests
Dryness
Deserts are extremely dry; they get less than 10 inches of rain per year. This low precipitation can be spread out so that it does not rain at all some years. Due to the lack of water, deserts have very few plants and, thus, very little shade. The dry air in a desert cools very quickly because there are no plants to trap the heat to the ground; deserts get very cold at night.
Temperature
The temperature in deserts varies considerably depending on the type of desert. The temperature in deserts exhibits daily extremes because the atmosphere cannot block the sun's rays without humidity. The extreme high temperatures in deserts range from from 43.5 to 49 degrees C., while the minimum temperatures can drop below 18 degrees C.
Animal and Plant Life
Animals that live in the desert, such as scorpions and snakes, live mostly underground, coming out at night to hunt for food. The desert tortoises of the southwestern United States spend most of their time underground. Desert plants have adapted to the desert climate by growing long roots so they can tap water deep underground. Some desert plants have to go without fresh water for years at a time. Yet many desert plants can live for hundreds of years.
Myths
Deserts are not always hot. Most deserts drop below freezing temperatures at night, and some deserts such as the Gobi Desert and the Antarctic Desert are cold all the time. While the popular picture of deserts is that of sand dunes, only about 10 percent of deserts are actually covered by sand dunes. There are also coastal deserts and semiarid deserts.