Ecosystems
Sahara Desert
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The Sahara is the largest hot desert in the world, spanning roughly 9.2 million square kilometers across North Africa from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea. Its name descends from the Arabic for the greatest desert. Two theories compete for why the region dried out: a weakened African monsoon following Quaternary glaciation, and the earlier drying of the ancient Tethys Sea around seven million years ago. Neither has displaced the other as the accepted explanation.
Facts
Area (sq km) Cross-Tradition Connections
Demonstrates
Why this is disputed. The popular image is the Sahara steadily marching south, but satellite data (1981-2005) attributed most of the Sahel's large-scale vegetation swings to rainfall variation rather than permanent degradation; some researchers hold the desert is fluctuating rather than advancing, while others document real, localized desertification requiring field verification case by case.
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Sources
1. Sahara (Wikipedia)
Wikipedialead sectionQuote, lead section
The Sahara is a desert spanning North Africa. With an area of 9,200,000 square kilometres (3,600,000 sq mi), it is the largest hot desert in the world and the third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Arctic.
Fennec Fox (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHosts: Fennec Fox, Distribution and habitat sectionQuote, Hosts: Fennec Fox, Distribution and habitat section
The fennec fox is a small fox native to the deserts of North Africa, ranging from Western Sahara and Mauritania to the Sinai Peninsula.
Defining Desertification (NASA Earth Observatory)
NASA Earth ObservatoryDemonstrates: DesertificationQuote, Demonstrates: Desertification
The Sahara is not advancing, but fluctuating like waves on the ocean. There is no extensive desertification.
Dissenting Readings (1 dissenting reading)
Demonstrates: Desertification
Satellite data from 1981 to 2005 attributed most of the Sahel's large-scale vegetation swings to rainfall variability rather than permanent human-caused degradation; the Sahara is fluctuating rather than steadily advancing, though other researchers still document real, localized desertification that needs field verification case by case.
A dissenting reading, from a reviewerDefining Desertification (NASA Earth Observatory), NASA Earth Observatory
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