Deserts
Deserts traditionally
were defined as areas having less than 10 inches (25cm) of rain per year,
now they are officially classified using an aridity index and are classed as
areas where the amount of evaporation exceeds the amount of
precipitation.
They collectively cover over one third of the earths land
surface and this area is increasing each year.
The
largest desert on earth is the Sahara in North Africa
which has an area of 9 million square km.
"No man can live this
life and emerge unchanged. He will carry , however faint, the imprint of the
desert, the brand which marks the nomad; and he will have a yearning to return,
weak or insistent according to his nature.
For this cruel land can cast a spell which no temperate clime can match." Wilfred
Thesiger
