CBSE Notes Class 7 Geography Chapter 7 Life in dessert
CBSE Notes Class 7 Geography Chapter 7 Life in the Dessert
THE HOT DESERT – SAHARA
The Sahara desert is the world's largest desert, covering 8.54 million square kilometers. Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia, and Western Sahara are among the countries affected. It is covered with wide swaths of sand, gravel plains, and towering plateaus with exposed rocky surfaces, some of which can be more than 2500m high in places.
Climate
The Sahara desert has a blistering hot and parched climate. The rainy season is brief. The sky is clear and cloudless. The moisture evaporates here. It accumulates faster than it accumulates. The days are unbearably hot. During the day, temperatures can reach 50°C, heating up the sand and bare rocks, which then radiate heat, making everything around it scorching. The nights may be bitterly chilly, with temperatures approaching 0 degrees.
Flora and Fauna
The Sahara desert has a variety of vegetation, including cactus, date palms and acacia, and is home to many animal species such as camels, hyenas, jackals, foxes, scorpions, snakes and lizards.
People
The Tuaregs and Bedouins are two ethnic groups that have lived in the Sahara desert. The goat, sheep, camel, and horse breeds that these tribes raise give them milk, hides, leather, mats, carpets, clothing, and blankets. Both the Nile Valley in Egypt and the Saharan oasis support established populations. Egyptian cotton is grown in Egypt, along with other crops such beans, wheat, barley, rice, and Egyptian cotton. The Sahara desert is changing as a result of the oil discoveries in Algeria, Libya, and Egypt.
Glass-enclosed office buildings now tower over mosques in the Sahara, and superhighways also cut across the region's historic camel routes. In the salt trade, trucks are replacing camels, and Tuaregs are seen serving as tour guides.
THE COLD DESERT - LADAKH
Ladakh is a cold desert lying in the Great Himalayas, on the eastern side of Jammu and Kashmir. It is bordered by the Karakoram Range in the north and the Zanskarmountains in the south. Several rivers flow through Ladakh, including the Indus and Gangri glaciers. The altitude in Ladakh varies from 3000m in Kargil to more than 8,000m in the Karakoram. The climate is extremely cold and dry, with day temperatures just above zero degree and night temperatures well below –30°C.
There is little rainfall, as low as 10 cm every year, and the area experiences freezing winds and burning hot sunlight. If you sit in the sun with your feet in the shade, you may suffer from both sunstroke and frost bite at the same time.
Flora and Fauna
The vegetation is thin due to the high level of aridity. A number of few grassy and shady areas for animals to graze. Willow and poplar groves can be found in the valleys. Fruit trees like apple, apricot, and walnut trees bloom in the summer. Birds of many species have been seen in Ladakh. Common birds include robins, redstarts, Tibetan snowcocks, ravens, and hoopoes. These include some migratory birds. Ladakh is home to yaks, wild sheep, wild goats, and unique breeds of dogs. The milk, flesh, and hides of the animals are produced during their rearing. In order to manufacture cheese and butter, yaks' milk is used. To create woollens, sheep and goat hair is needed.
People
The people of Ladakh are either Muslims or Buddhists. They cultivate barley, potatoes, peas, beans and turnip in the summer season, while in the winter months they engage in festivities and ceremonies. Women are hardworking and manage small business and shops. Leh, the capital of Ladakh, is well connected by road and air, and tourism is a major activity. People have learned to live in balance and harmony with nature due to the scarcity of resources like water and fuel, and nothing is discarded or wasted.
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