The Sahara Desert

Map Of Sahara Desert

Climate The Sahara's desert climate is believed to have been

established over five million years ago during the Pliocene Epoch.

The Pliocene Epoch is a period of time that extends from 5.332-2.588 million years before present.

Since then the Sahara has been subject to short- to medium-length dry and humid conditions, which have contributed to the unique climate of the Sahara today.

The “Little Ice Age” which took place in Europe in the 16th and 18th century had a huge impact on the Sahara’s climate.

This increased the amount of precipitation in the desert until around the 19th century.

By this time, the climate has stabled again and resembles the climate in the desert today.

ClimateThe Sahara desert consists of two sub-climates.A dry sub-tropical climate in the north and a

dry tropical climate in the south.The dry tropical climate is generally

characterized by mild, dry winters, a hot dry season just before the rainy season. The average climate here is 18 degrees.

The dry subtropical climate, however, is characterized by annually high temperature ranges, cold winters, hot summers and two rainy seasons. The average climate here in winter is 13 degrees.

Animals in the Sahara

Camels

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Camels are vitally important and are used for transport, meat, milk, wool and leather. Camels made it possible to establish trade routes across the Sahara Desert, linking West Africa to North Africa.

Dorcas Gazelle

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When they feel threatened they sound their alarm call which sounds like barking. When chased, these gazelles use "stotting" (leaping straight up during pursuit by a predator) as a method to signal their fitness to the predator and warn other gazelles a predator is present.

Deathstalker Scorpion

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This is one of the most venomous scorpions on the earth. they hide in small natural burrows or under stones. They can have up to 30 young ones every year.

Plants in the Sahara

African Welwitchsia

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The African welwitchsia manages to survive the harsh conditions of the Sahara desert due to its extremely deep roots. These roots go deep into the earth and absorb as much water as possible. This helps the plant to cope with the hot and dry desert conditions.

Doum Palm

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This plant is native of The River Nile. It is used to make tea.

Magaria

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Magaria fruits are of a muted brown colour and roughly resemble cherries. Flour extracted from dried Magaria fruits are typically used by the people of the Sahara desert to make cakes. The branches of the trees are used for building fences around fields, for protection against animals.

Interesting Facts Arabic is the most widely spoken language in the Sahara

region, from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. There are some sand dunes in the desert which reach a

height of about 180 meters. The Sahara desert covers around 3,500,000 square miles,

and the overall area is as large as the continental United States.

Thousands of years ago, this area was actually a fertile land where animals like elephants and giraffes were seen grazing around. Around 6,000 years back, the climate started becoming drier, and has become what we see today.

The Sahara has mainly nomadic groups of people who move from place to place. Nomads wear a particular headdress known as Howli. These people are mainly engaged in trading and hunting.

Environmental threats

The Sahara desert faces many problems: The Sahara has a very small population (2 million) and

because there is so little rain, it is very hard for people to survive.

The few plants in the Sahara are also having trouble. Animals are eaten a lot of them! Also, firewood is needed in the countries the Sahara desert covers. The firewood is used 30% faster than it is produced!

Many harmful insects such as the Desert Locust, harm peoples homes and food. This sometimes requires people to move into a new town or city. Sometimes the temperature will become hotter, causing some harmful diseases, such as malaria, sleeping sickness, and more.

References http://thesaharadesert.8m.com/whats_new.html www.buzzle.com/articles/sahara-desert-facts.html www.livescience.com/23140-sahara-desert.html www.buzzle.com/articles/sahara-desert-animals

.html www.buzzle.com/articles/sahara-desert-plants.html www.livescience.com/23140-sahara-desert.html library.thinkquest.org/16645/the_land/saha_cl.shtml