Dry climates are areas that are very dry and where the water escapes and leaves the area drier than other places. Most dry climates have summers that are very hot, winters are cool and warm, and the air is very dry.
A dry climate has two different parts. The first part is the dry arid area and the second part is called the dry semi-arid area.
The dry arid area is known for being dry and the word arid means a place that is dry. There is over 1/3 of the Earth that is part of the dry arid climate.
This area is found around 30 degrees north and south of the Equator because the Equator is extremely hot.
A dry arid area does not necessarily mean that the area will be hot. There are many places where there is a dry arid cold area, and this is because of how the cool currents move.
Most dry arid areas do not have four seasons like other places are and they mostly have either summer or winter.
Some of the dry arid areas are always dry and hot such as the Sahara Desert.
The temperature in the dry arid area can get over 130 degrees Fahrenheit and can be as cold as -30 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature depends on where the desert is located.
If a desert is located further away from the equator, it will be cooler than the desert that is close to the equator.
The reason that an area is classified as a dry arid area is because of the little precipitation that the area gets. Most dry arid areas get less than 10 inches of rain each year, while some of the areas get even less than that.
Since the weather is extreme in dry arid areas, there are not a lot of different plants that can survive. A lot of the reasons are because there is little precipitation that plants need in order to grow.
Plants that do survive in the dry arid area have to need very little water in order to survive and most of them are able to store their own water.
Most of the plants that are located in the dry arid areas have either thorns or long roots. These different features of the plant help them to be able to store water and to keep animals from eating them.
Some of the plants include:
When there is a dry arid area, it means that the area gets very little precipitation and is very dry. These areas make it very hard for most animals to live in these conditions.
There are still some animals and plants that live in this area.
Some of these include:
The animals adapt to the environment that can reach more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit by filtering their blood through their ears, by growing thick fur on their feet so that they can run through the hot desert, burrowing, growing fur that reflects light and by using their bodies to store water so they do not get too hot or thirsty.
Some animals, such as the camel, have extra eyelashes and eyelids to help keep the sand out.
The areas that are semi-arid areas are known as grasslands. The grasslands cover around 14% of the surface of the Earth. These areas are known because they get enough rain for all different types of grasses to grow.
A semi-arid area has usually two seasons; winter and summer.
The summer months are sometimes drier than the winter months and the winter months get more rain because the cool air will hit into the warm land area and this will cause more rain and precipitation to fall.
Most of the semi-arid areas are found outside of the dry arid areas. These areas can either have plenty of rainfall in order to grow crops, or they can go a long time without water and there can be long periods of droughts that cause farmers to lose their vegetation.
A drought is a long period of time where there is no rain.
The temperatures of the semi-arid area can go as low as -15 degrees Fahrenheit during the winter but can be much warmer during the summer. The temperature of the semi-arid area depends on what the temperatures are around them.
There are two types of semi-arid areas:
The area is considered only semi-arid if it gets from 10 to 20 inches of rain each year. Some of the grassland areas can get up to 40 inches of rain per year while some of the grassland areas only get from 5 to 10 inches of rain per year.
How much rainfall that the semi-arid area gets depends on how the ocean currents are changing with the seasons.
Since the semi-arid area gets enough rainfall for there to be plants and trees, you can expect to see a lot of trees, grasses, and plants, but they still can only require little water because of the extreme precipitation changes. Sometimes, there is plenty of water while other times there is little or no water.
Most of the grasses that are found in the semi-arid areas are grasses and shrubs. Some of the semi-arid plants have thorns and are waxy to keep water in and to be protected from animals eating them.
Some of the plants in the semi-arid area include:
Just like the plants, there are very few animals that live in semi-arid areas. Most of these animals are the ones that have learned to adapt to the climate of having just enough water or not having enough water.
Some of these animals include:
The coastal desert is a desert area that is cool to warm with temperatures from 13-24 degrees Celsius in the summer months and -4 degrees Celsius in the winter months.
Here are some more facts about the Coastal Desert:
The plants in the coastal desert have learned to be able to adapt to little rainfall by having thick stems that are grooved or have ridges so that they can use the water as they suck the water through their long roots.
Some of the plants of the Coastal Desert include:
Animals in the coastal desert have learned to adapt to the lack of rainfall. Some of the animals hibernate for up to nine months until it rains. Other animals will not lay eggs until the weather conditions allow the eggs to be able to hatch.
Here are some animals found in the Coastal Desert: