1893 Arid regions of the western united states

A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and

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of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called

xeric Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (ancient Greek xērós, “dry") shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this h ...

or desertic. Most arid climates straddle the Equator; these regions include parts of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

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, Southwestern United States, North America, and Australia.

Change over time

The distribution of aridity at any time is largely the result of the general circulation of the atmosphere. The latter does change significantly over time through climate change. For example, temperature increase by 1.5–2.1 percent across the Nile Basin over the next 30–40 years could change the region from Semi-arid climate, semi-arid to arid, significantly reducing the land usable for agriculture. In addition, changes in land use can increase demands on soil water and thereby increase aridity.

References

* Griffiths, J. F. (1985) 'Climatology', Chapter 2 in ''Handbook of Applied Meteorology'', Edited by David D. Houghton, John Wiley and Sons, . * Durrenberger, R. W. (1987) 'Arid Climates', article in ''The Encyclopedia of Climatology'', p. 92–101, Edited by J. E. Oliver and R. W. Fairbridge, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, . * Stadler, S. J (1987) 'Aridity Indexes', article in ''The Encyclopedia of Climatology'', p. 102–107, Edited by J. E. Oliver and R. W. Fairbridge, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, .
Blue Peace for the Nile Report
2009, Strategic Foresight Group Climate patterns Soil science Water scarcity {{climate-stub

Change over time

See also

References