Most Lethal Deserts In The World
1. Namib Desert. Namibia. The oldest desert in the worldAfrican Namib desert, stretching along the coast of Namibia, is almost never seen rain for at least 55 million years.Last year there falls no more than 10 mm of precipitation , but because of its huge space 80 thousand square kilometers, almost barren and uninhabited. The name of the language of the local people of Nama is translated as “place where there is nothing “. But here you can find the world’s highest sand dunes, whose height can reach 300 meters.In addition, immediately found a fairly large deposits of uranium, tungsten and diamonds.
2. Desert Uyuni. Bolivia. Most salt desert in the world
Nestled on an area of 10 thousand square kilometers of desert Uyuni is considered the most salt in the world. Its reserves of salt is estimated at 10 billion tons. Once upon a time there was a large salt lake, but over time it has dried up, leaving the whole of dissolved salt on the earth’s surface. In the same desert and buried the world’s largest reserves of lithium. Fascinating local landscapes to the salt marshes attract a lot of tourists and local residents have adapted to build a salt plates at home, which offer travelers to spend the night.
3. Aralkum. Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Youngest desert in the world
The Aral Sea, most recently, is the fourth-largest salt lake in the world, starting with the 60-ies of the last century, has lost 90% of its area. This stems from the irrigation projects of the USSR, pilfered all the water from the rivers feeding the sea to irrigate vast cotton crops. Despite the fact that so far proposed a project to rescue the sea, scientists believe that it is impossible to do so. Even if withdrawals from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya will be completely terminated, the restoration of its former volume of water required at least 200 years. Aralkum in combination is the most poisonous wilderness of the world. Pesticides and fertilizers, which increased the yield of cotton once and struggled with pests, with the river water got into the lake, now dried up in the form with the dust are carried far beyond the desert. Toxic substances have been found here, even in the blood of penguins in Antarctica.
4. Desert Kakros. Canada. Smallest desert in the world
Smallest desert in the world in just 2.6 square kilometers and, strictly speaking, this is not a desert. Despite the fact that the climate is much drier than in the surrounding countryside, the rains here all the same happen. In the late 90-ies of the last century, local authorities made an attempt to make the desert sanctuary, but faced strong opposition of local residents who have long since adapted the place as a site for picnics, off of the roads and riding a board with the dune.
5. Sahara. North Africa. The largest desert in the world
The size of the Sahara, which occupies most of North Africa, comparable to the European continent, or U.S. territory. It covers an area of 9 million square kilometers and covers 11 African countries. Here in 1922 was the highest recorded temperature – 57.8 degrees Celsius. Every year in the Sahara there is more than 160 mirages. For travelers, even composed a special card through which you can find out exactly where most likely you can see the mirages of the well, palm groves of the oases and mountain ranges.
6. Atacama Desert. Chile. Driest desert in the world
Prior to the Atacama desert, sandwiched between the Andes and the Cordillera, does not get hardly any rain cloud. Precipitation is not seen for several years, and some meteorological stations have never recorded a drop of rain for all of its existence. Drought, such that the local mountain peaks, reaching a height of no less than 6500 meters, are deprived of snowpacks.
