INTERESTING MORSELS ABOUT DESERTS

IN SOME PARTS OF THE ATACAMA DESERT IN CHILE,

RAIN HAS NEVER BEEN RECORDED. IT MAY COME

AS NO SURPRISE THEN THAT IT IS CONSIDERED

THE DRIEST PLACE ON EARTH

SAND FROM THE SAHARA IS BLOWN ACROSS THE

ATLANTIC OCEAN AND SETTLES IN THE AMAZON

RIVER BASIN. IN OTHER WORDS, THE SAHARA

DESERT FERTILIZES THE AMAZON!

IN 1979 IT SNOWED IN THE SAHARA

THE LARGEST DESERT IN THE WORLD IS

ACTUALLY ANTARCTICA

IF YOU GET LOST IN THE DESERT AND NEED WATER,

A CACTUS MAY NOT BE YOUR FRIEND. FIRST OF ALL,

YOU'LL NEED A MACHETE TO CUT IT OPEN AND

SECOND OF ALL, MANY SPECIES ARE POISONOUS

THE FASTEST CROSSING OF THE SAHARA VIA BIKE

WAS MADE BY REZA PAKRAVAN, AN ANALYST

FROM LONDON. HE MADE IT IN 13 DAYS

THE TRANS-SAHARA HIGHWAY IS ONE OF THE OLDEST

TRANSNATIONAL HIGHWAYS IN AFRICA. IN SPITE

OF THIS, SOME OF THE CENTRE REGIONS ARE

STILL UNPAVED, UNHOSPITABLE, AND REQUIRES

SPECIAL VEHICLES TO CROSS

ROUGHLY 2,500 SQUARE KILOMETRES OF LAND IN

CHINA TURNS TO DESERT EVERY YEAR. THIS

CAUSES DUST STORMS IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD