What do you think of when you hear the word desert? Many people think that they are just a boring place full of sand. Deserts are actually quite interesting. There are a few facts that most people probably don’t know about deserts. If one views earth from space, it appears to look just like a blue marble full of water. Most people don’t realize that one-third of the earth’s land is totally or partial covered by desert. Many people don’t think that Antarctica is a desert, but it is in fact the largest one! Not all deserts have to be hot. The only qualification is that the region loses more moisture than it gains. The Atacama Desert in Chile contains areas where no amount of rain has ever been recorded. It is thought by many scientists that portions of these areas have been sustained in extreme desert mode for about 40 million years! That is longer than any other region in the world.

Information obtained at www.discovermagazine.com Pictures obtained at www.zmescience.com and www.es-static.us