Hot Desert Climates
Hot desert climates are typically found under the subtropical ridge where there is largely unbroken sunshine for the whole year due to the stable descending air and high pressure. Such areas include the Sahara, the Arabian, Syrian and Kalahari Deserts, large parts of Iran, southern and central Pakistan, northwest India, the southwestern United States, Northern Mexico, and much of Australia. These areas are located between 30 degrees south and 30 north latitude.
Hot desert climates feature hot, typically exceptionally hot, periods of the year. In many locations featuring a hot desert climate, maximum temperatures of 40°C to 45°C are not uncommon in summer. During colder periods of the year, night-time temperatures can drop to freezing or below due to the exceptional radiation loss under the clear skies. However, very rarely do temperatures drop far below freezing.
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Famous quotes containing the words hot, desert and/or climates:
“Good-night to the Season!—the dances,
The fillings of hot little rooms,
The glancings of rapturous glances,
The fancyings of fancy costumes;
The pleasures which Fashion makes duties,
The praisings of fiddles and flutes,
The luxury of looking at beauties,
The tedium of talking to mutes;”
—Winthrop Mackworth Praed (1802–1839)
“The skylines lit up at dead of night, the air- conditioning systems cooling empty hotels in the desert and artificial light in the middle of the day all have something both demented and admirable about them. The mindless luxury of a rich civilization, and yet of a civilization perhaps as scared to see the lights go out as was the hunter in his primitive night.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)
“All climates agree with brave Chanticleer. He is more indigenous even than the natives. His health is ever good, his lungs are sound, his spirits never flag.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)