The Sahara
The sahara desert is located in Northern Africa. Deserts are formed by the presence
of large quantities of dry air. The sahara doesn’t have much variety of
weather, most of the time it’s clear and sunny skies with temperatures
that can exceed 130° F. in the day and below freezing at night. In 1922
in the sahara there was a recorded temperature of 136° F. in the shade!
It gets an average rain fall of less than five inches a year. Desert soils are
usually salty because the little rain that does fall evaporated and leaves salt
and other minerals behind.
The sahara is the largest desert in the world at 9,065,000 sq. km. 1/4 of the sahara is mountains. The southern boundary of the sahara desert expands by 5.5 km per year. Other than the few oases in the sahara there are virtually no plants.
The worst natural disaster is desertification because it is permanent. all other natural disasters are temporary or transitory in nature. once a formerly productive area turns into a desert nothing can be done to stop the advancing desert, not even heavily irrigating will bring it to life again. it will only be a heavily irrigated desert.
