Download - Deserts in the world
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Nevada, US
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AFRICA
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NORTHERN ARABIAN PENNINSULA
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It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia.
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a large salt desert in southeastern Iran
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A desert in India and Pakistan
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Almeria, Spain
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Chile and Peru
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A central Australian desert
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the second largest "desert" in the world, though it is frozen ocean, so (like the rest of this section) not a desert climate in any conventional sense
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The Desert Biome is an important part of
Earth because many animals live in it
and it is a source of sand. Also, a lot of oil
is often found under many deserts.
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The Desert Biome is home to insects and
spiders that frogs and birds eat. Several
species of vultures also live in the desert
to scavenge on animal remains.
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The Desert Biome is also important because
it has its own ecosystem. Like all other
ecosystems, if one species of plant or
animal is overpopulating or under-
populating, the whole ecosystem will be
affected by a ripple effect. All the
populations of the different animals will be
affected if one of the populations change.
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THREATS in Desert
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Global warming is increasing the incidence
of drought, which dries up water holes.
Higher temperatures may produce an
increasing number of wildfires that alter
desert landscapes by eliminating slow-
growing trees and shrubs and replacing
them with fast-growing grasses.
Irrigation used for agriculture, may in the
long term, lead to salt levels in the soil
that become too high to support plants.
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Grazing animals can destroy many desert
plants and animals.
Potassium cyanide used in gold mining may
poison wildlife.
Off-road vehicles, when used irresponsibly,
can cause irreparable damage to desert
habitats.
Oil and gas production may disrupt
sensitive habitat.
Nuclear waste may be dumped in deserts,
which have also been used as nuclear
testing grounds.
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More efficiently use existing water
resources and better control
salinization to improve arid lands.
Find new ways to rotate crops to
protect the fragile soil.
Plant sand-fixing bushes and trees.
Plant leguminous plants, which extract
nitrogen from the air and fix it in the
ground, to restore soil fertility.
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Use off-road vehicles only on
designated trails and roadways
Dig artificial grooves in the ground to
retain rainfall and trap windblown
seeds.
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Major changes are likely to be
experienced in the arid and
semi-arid lands in the next few
decades. The most important
changes will be induced by
increasing human pressure of
various kinds:
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Urban populations have profound
impacts in semi-arid lands, which are all
the more obvious for the absence of
vegetation cover.
Rural populations may be reaching the
limits of cultivable land in many areas,
and this could, though not necessarily
have impacts on soils and vegetation.
These changes may or may not be
serious enough to influence climate and
so induce a real and perhaps lasting
change in these environments.