Deserts
- Created by: 03Louise
- Created on: 20-04-18 12:13
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- Deserts
- Facts
- Climate
- Less than 250mm rainfall a year
- Varies
- Hot during the day
- Cold at night
- Less than 250mm rainfall a year
- Soil
- Shallow and coarse
- Infertile
- Plants
- Sparse
- Cacti
- Thornbushes
- Short
- Many have a short life cycle
- Animals
- Lizards
- Snakes
- Insects
- Scorpions
- Mammals
- Nocturnal
- Small
- Birds
- Leave in harsh seasons
- People
- Grow a few crops
- Near natural springs/wells
- Desert fringes
- Indigenous
- Travel in search of food and water
- Herds
- Goats
- Sheep
- Herds
- Travel in search of food and water
- Grow a few crops
- Climate
- Interdependent
- Plants supply nutrients to animals
- Few plants few animals
- Not much water available
- Move to new places
- Dig deep wells
- People use irrigation
- Drains water
- Reduces availability to plants
- Drains water
- Overgrazing
- Soil erosion
- Wind blows fine soil/sand
- Leads to clouds of dust
- Changes climate of deserts reducing rainfall
- Leads to clouds of dust
- Wind blows fine soil/sand
- Soil erosion
- Plants supply nutrients to animals
- Desert plants
- Roots
- Wide
- Catch as much rain as possible
- Long
- Reach deeper water supplies
- Wide
- Succulents
- Large fleshy stems to store water
- Sharp spines or toxins
- Stop animals stealing water
- Some plants only germinate when it rains
- Grow, flower then release seeds
- Roots
- Desert animals
- Nocturnal
- Stay cool in burrows during the day
- Long limbs or ears
- Large surface area to lose heat
- Store large amounts of fat (camel)
- Provide water when needed
- Most get all needed water from what they eat
- Minimise water loss from sweat and urine
- Adaptions to cope with sand
- Triple eyelids
- Long eyelashes
- Ability to close nostrils
- Large flat feet to prevent sinking
- Nocturnal
- Biodiversity
- Higher in areas with water
- Low
- Areas with water have the highest density of humans
- Threatens biodiversity because of desertification
- Global warming
- Makes deserts hotter and drier threatening species
- These animals are unique to deserts
- Makes deserts hotter and drier threatening species
- Case study
- Sahara
- Opportunities to development
- Mineral resources
- Oil and gas
- In Algeria 60% of income is from oil and gas
- Employs 40.000 people
- Solar energy
- 12+ hours of sun a day
- Tunisia
- 100km2 solar energy development is planned to supply energy for 2 million homes in Western Europe
- Tourism
- Camel trekking
- Small scale, mainly visit cities on the outskirts
- Farming
- Only possible where there is enough water
- Challenges to development
- Extreme temperatures
- Range from 40C to below freezing
- Dangerous to health
- Often too hot for tourists in the dry season
- Range from 40C to below freezing
- Inaccessibility
- Huge- people and materials have to travel long distances mainly by air (expensive)
- Difficult to provide services to remote areas
- Expensive pipeplines have been built to transport oil and gas from remote areas
- Untitled
- 5 days to transport salt from salt mines in Mali out of the desert
- Water supply
- Hard to supply enough for workers, industry or irrigation
- Water from underground is used but it isn't being replenished
- Sometimes when resources are valuable new developments find ways to transport it
- Extreme temperatures
- Desertification
- Degradation of land so it becomes more desert like
- 1/3 of the world is at risk
- Soil erosion is the main part as nutrients are lost making soil infertile
- Causes
- Climate change
- Rainfall being reduced
- Plants die causing soil erosion
- Increasing temperatures
- More watre evaporates
- Plants die causing soil erosion
- More watre evaporates
- Rainfall being reduced
- Human activities
- Removing trees for fuel
- Overgrazing
- Plants reduced as well as trampling on soil
- Over-cultivation
- All nutrients are used up so plants can no longer grow
- Population growth
- Puts pressure on the land
- Overgrazing
- Plants reduced as well as trampling on soil
- Removing trees for fuel
- Over-cultivation
- All nutrients are used up so plants can no longer grow
- Overgrazing
- Puts pressure on the land
- Climate change
- Management strategies
- Water management
- Reducing water use by planting different crops and drip irrigation
- Tree planting
- Act as wind breaks preventing erosion
- Stabilize sand
- Provide shade reudcing water loss
- Soil management
- Letting areas recover their nutrients
- Crop rotation
- Compost
- Letting areas recover their nutrients
- Appropriate technology
- Use cheap, sustainable, easy to maintain, easily available materials
- Sand fences
- Solar cookers
- Water management
- Facts
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