Did You Know?

Antarctica is the largest desert in the world

The two largest deserts on Earth are in the polar areas. The Antarctic Polar Desert covers the continent of Antarctica and has a size of about 5.5 million square miles. The second-largest desert is the Arctic Polar Desert. It extends over parts of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. It has a surface area of about 5.4 million square miles.  

Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, and most isolated continent on Earth. It’s covered by a permanent ice sheet that contains 90% of the Earth’s fresh water. The 2% of the continent that isn’t covered by ice is along the coasts, and that’s where all the life is. Rainfall (or snowfall) in this region of Antarctica is less than 20 millimeters/year.

The largest hot desert is the Sahara in northern Africa. At 9.1 million km2, it’s as large as the United States or the continent of Europe. Scientists believe the region has been a desert for as long as 3 million years. On average, the Sahara receives less than 8 cm/year of rainfall, and temperatures can rise to more than 50 degrees C.

Source: geology.com