Foreign Media: Ranking of the World's Largest Deserts
The core definition of a desert lies in extremely low precipitation, rather than high temperatures. Deserts are found across all continents, covering about one-third of Earth's land area. The following rankings are sourced from WorldAtlas.
The Antarctic Desert and Arctic Desert rank first and second respectively, with areas of 5.5 million and 5.4 million square miles—these are the only two polar deserts on Earth. The Antarctic Desert receives an average annual precipitation of just 0.39 inches (10 millimeters), making it one of the driest places on Earth; the Arctic Desert receives approximately 6 to 10 inches of precipitation annually, but frigid temperatures prevent air from retaining moisture.
The Sahara Desert ranks third with an area of 3.5 million square miles, making it the largest tropical desert globally—its size is equivalent to China’s national territory, spanning over ten countries including Western Sahara, Algeria, Libya, and Egypt. Notably, due to climate change, human activities, and natural climatic cycles, the Sahara Desert has expanded by more than 10% since 1920.
The Arabian Desert ranks fourth at 1 million square miles; the Gobi Desert (located along the China-Mongolia border) comes fifth at 500,000 square miles; Argentina’s Patagonian Desert and Australia’s Great Victoria Desert follow in sixth and seventh place with areas of 260,000 and 250,000 square miles respectively; the Kalahari Desert ranks eighth at 220,000 square miles; the Great Basin Desert and the Syrian Desert each cover around 190,000 square miles, tying for ninth and tenth positions.
Original Article: toutiao.com/article/1865357030533257/
Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author.