Ecology - research projects and Presentations Task - topic Desert Essay

Ecology - research projects and Presentations Task - topic Desert - Essay Example In some deserts, there are gold and granite fields, also exploited from time immemorial. The main economic resource of the deserts is in any case oil, with the richest fields being located in the Persian Gulf (Saudi Arabia, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iran). This rather small area contains 65% of the world’s oil resources; Saudi Arabia alone contains 25% and is therefore the country possessing the largest amounts of crude oil. Deserts have provided trade corridors from times immemorial through which goods and cultures travelled. Water-soluble salts, such as gypsum, borates, table salt, sodium and potassium nitrates have been historically a product of deserts. Because of their warm climate, deserts also export agricultural products, produced under irrigation, to non-desert areas. Agriculture and horticulture are already profitable in many deserts, as in Israel and Tunisia, and have great further potential. The growth of desert cities, clearly evidenced in industrial countries in the mid-twentieth century, has attracted the migration of non-desert people into desert habitats, drawn by new employment opportunities and the availability of cheap housing. In recent years, the influx of tourists to deserts, seeking the dry and sunny climate, has encouraged migration to deserts as well. Water or basically the lack of water is one of the most important desert features. Typically, deserts receive less than 508 millimeters (20 in.) of rain per year. This means that animals and plants looking to survive in the desert must be able to live with little water for extended periods of time Deserts have huge fluctuations in temperatures. Because there is little moisture, deserts lack the insulating protection of both humidity and cloud cover. A desert that is hot during the day may drop to well below zero degrees at night, once the heat of the sun has left.   Soil: The