The desert is a land of extremes: extreme heat and extreme dryness; sudden flash floods and cold nights. Because deserts are such a harsh environment, deserts often have names likes "Death Valley," "the empty quarter," and "the place from where there is no return."

Deserts are usually very, very dry. Even the wettest deserts get less than ten inches of precipitation a year.

In most places, rain falls steadily throughout the year. But in the desert, there may be only a few periods of rains per year with a lot of time between rains. When it does rain, there may be quite a downpour! After the rain, desert flowers bloom.

Many deserts are found in bands along 30 degrees latitude north and 30 degrees latitude south (between the red lines… Click here to read more