What is the Largest Desert in the World?
Spanning 14 million to 14.2 million square kilometers or 5.4 million to 5.5 million square miles, the Antarctic Desert, also known as Antarctica, is the largest in the world.
Although the landmass is labeled as a continent, the region receives 6.5 inches of annual rainfall, way less than the maximum rainfall desert threshold of ten inches, which classifies Antarctica as a desert
34 million years ago, Antarctica was connected to the Gondwana supercontinent, and its climate was warm and frost-free.
Yet, as continents drifted apart, temperatures began to drop and ice sheets formed across the entire continent, transforming Antarctica from a warm climate to a freezing, inhospitable ice sheet that is now called the Antarctic Desert.
From January 27 to January 28, 1820, Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen led a Russian Imperial Navy expedition aboard the Vostok and Mirnyi across the Antarctic Circle and is credited with the first sighting of the Antarctic ice shelf.
Two days later, British Royal Navy Master Edward Bransfield sighted the Trinity Peninsula of the Antarctic Peninsula, while in November, American sealing captain Nathaniel Palmer sighted the same peninsula and met Bellingshausen, claiming the first sightings of the region
Furthermore, on December 14, 1911, and on January 17, 1912, Norwegian Roald Amundsen and Brit Robert Falcon Scott led the first expeditions to reach the South Pole, successfully becoming the first humans to reach the South Pole.
Meanwhile, Antarctica’s climate is designated as an ice cap climate because temperatures never reach above 32 degrees Fahrenheit, or freezing, which makes year-round habitation by humans impossible.
Yet, the Polar Desert is home to a variety of penguins, Pinnipeds, whales, and invertebrates, including Emperor, Adélie, and Chinstrap Penguins; Weddell, Leopard, and Southern Elephant Seals; Blue, Humpback, and Fin Whales; along with Antarctic Krill.
Overall, the largest desert in the world, the Antarctic Desert, plays a crucial role in studying the world’s largest inhabited continent.
Frequently Asked Questions
1) How much annual precipitation does the Antarctic Desert get?
The Antarctic Desert gets about 16.6 centimeters, 6.5 inches of rain per year, while the inner plateau receives less than 5 centimeters.
Source: https://poseidonexpeditions.com/about/articles/is-antarctica-a-desert/
2) How cold does the Antarctic Desert get?
The Antarctic Desert temperatures plunge below freezing. The lowest recorded temperature on Earth is -93.2 degrees Celsius -135.8 degrees Fahrenheit in Antarctica
Source: https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/antarctica/
3) Who lives in the Antarctic Desert?
There is no native human population. The continent is inhabited only on a temporary rotation by scientists and researchers across seasonal stations governed by the Antarctic Treaty System
Source: https://www.nasa.gov/frequently-asked-questions-about-antarctica/
Why it matters
The Antarctic Desert’s unique environment supports vital scientific research that helps us understand its resilience to life in extreme conditions.
Sources
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