This chapter takes us to deserts, where life is tough with little water. It talks about the hot Sahara in Africa and the cold Ladakh in India. We see how people face burning heat or freezing cold every day. It tells about the plants, animals, and how folks live there. It shows how they manage with nature’s big challenges.
1. Introduction to Deserts
- What Are Deserts:
- Places with very little water, tough for plants, animals, and people to live.
- No grass for cattle, no water for drinking or growing crops.
- Types of Deserts:
- Hot deserts, burning like fire, and cold deserts, freezing like ice.
- Have less rain, few plants, and extreme heat or cold.
- How People Live:
- People stay where they find some water to grow food.
2. The Hot Desert – Sahara
- Where It Is:
- In North Africa, the biggest desert in the world.
- Covers 8.54 million sq. km, much bigger than India’s 3.28 million sq. km.
- Touches 11 countries: Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia, and Western Sahara.
- What It Looks Like:
- Mostly sandy, but also has gravel plains and high rocky plateaus.
- Some rocky spots go over 2500 metres high.
- Past of Sahara:
- Long ago, it was green with rivers, crocodiles, elephants, lions, giraffes, ostriches, sheep, cattle, and goats.
- Climate changed, making it hot and dry now.
2.1 Climate
- Weather:
- Very hot and super dry with a short rainy time.
- Clear sky, no clouds, moisture dries up fast.
- Daytime heat hits 50°C, warming sand and rocks, making everything hot.
- Nights get very cold, close to 0°C.
2.2 Flora and Fauna
- Plants:
- Cactus, date palms, and acacia grow here.
- Oasis areas have green patches with date palms.
- Animals:
- Camels, hyenas, jackals, foxes, scorpions, snakes, and lizards live here.
- Fish skeletons found, showing water existed long ago.
2.3 People
- Who Lives Here:
- Bedouins and Tuaregs, nomadic tribes, move around with animals.
- What They Do:
- Raise goats, sheep, camels, and horses.
- Use milk, hides for leather (belts, slippers, water bottles), and hair for mats, carpets, clothes, blankets.
- Wear heavy robes to protect from dust storms and hot winds.
- Settled Life:
- Near oasis and Nile Valley in Egypt, people stay put.
- Grow date palms, rice, wheat, barley, beans, and Egyptian cotton, famous worldwide.
- Changes:
- Oil found in Algeria, Libya, and Egypt is changing the desert.
- Other minerals like iron, phosphorus, manganese, and uranium are there too.
- Modern buildings and highways are replacing old camel paths.
- Trucks now carry salt instead of camels.
- Tuaregs guide tourists; nomads take city jobs in oil and gas.
- Oasis Facts:
- Formed in depressions where underground water comes up.
- Fertile spots for growing crops; some are huge, like Tafilalet Oasis in Morocco, covering 13,000 sq. km.
3. The Cold Desert – Ladakh
- Where It Is:
- In the Great Himalayas, eastern side of Jammu and Kashmir, India.
- Surrounded by Karakoram Range in the north and Zanskar mountains in the south.
- Rivers like Indus flow through, cutting deep valleys and gorges.
- Has glaciers, like Gangri glacier.
- Height:
- Ranges from 3000 metres in Kargil to over 8000 metres in Karakoram.
- Name Meaning:
- “La” means mountain pass, “Dak” means country—Ladakh is the land of passes.
- Coldest Spot:
- Drass in Ladakh is one of the coldest places people live on Earth.
3.1 Climate
- Weather:
- Very cold and dry because of high height.
- Thin air makes sun feel strong but nights drop below -30°C in summer.
- Winter gets worse, staying below -40°C most times.
- Little rain, just 10 cm a year, as it’s in the Himalayas’ rain shadow.
- Freezing winds and hot sunlight hit together—sunstroke and frostbite can happen at once.
3.2 Flora and Fauna
- Plants:
- Very few plants due to dryness—just patches of grass and shrubs.
- Valleys have willows, poplars, and fruit trees like apples, apricots, walnuts in summer.
- Animals:
- Wild goats, wild sheep, yaks, and special dogs live here.
- Yak milk makes cheese and butter; sheep and goat hair make woollens.
- Birds: Robins, redstarts, Tibetan snowcock, ravens, hoopoes—some fly in from other places.
3.3 People
- Who Lives Here:
- Muslims and Buddhists, looking like people from Tibet and Central Asia.
- Famous Buddhist monasteries like Hemis, Thiksey, Shey, and Lamayuru are here.
- What They Do:
- In summer, grow barley, potatoes, peas, beans, turnips.
- In harsh winters, enjoy festivals and ceremonies.
- Women work hard at home, in fields, and run small shops or businesses.
- Connection:
- Leh, the capital, links to Kashmir Valley by National Highway 1 through Zoji La Pass.
- Other passes like Rohtang La, Baralacha La, Lungalacha La, and Tanglang La are there too.
- Tourism:
- Tourists come from India and abroad to see monasteries, meadows, glaciers, and join festivals.
- Living with Nature:
- People use scarce water and fuel carefully, wasting nothing, living in balance with nature.
4. Questions and Answers
4.1 Short Answer Questions
- What are the two types of deserts in the world?
- Hot deserts and cold deserts.
- In which continent is the Sahara desert located?
- Africa.
- What are the climatic conditions of the Ladakh desert?
- Very cold and dry, hot sun in day, freezing nights, little rain.
- What mainly attracts tourists to Ladakh?
- Monasteries, meadows, glaciers, and festivals.
- What type of clothes do Sahara desert people wear?
- Heavy robes to save from dust storms and hot winds.
- Name the trees that grow in Ladakh?
- Willows, poplars, apple, apricot, walnut trees.
4.2 Multiple Choice Questions
- Sahara is located in which part of Africa?
- (b) Northern.
- Sahara is what type of desert?
- (b) Hot.
- The Ladakh desert is mainly inhabited by?
- (b) Buddhists and Muslims.
- Deserts are characterised by?
- (a) Scanty vegetation.
- Hemis in Ladakh is a famous?
- (c) Monastery.
- Egypt is famous for growing?
- (c) Cotton.
4.3 Matching
- (i) Oasis → (d) Depressions with water
- (ii) Bedouins → (f) Sahara
- (iii) Oil → (a) Libya
- (iv) Gangri → (c) Glacier
- (v) Lamayuru → (b) Monastery
4.4 Give Reasons
- Why is there scanty vegetation in the deserts?
- Very little rain and extreme heat or cold make it hard for plants to grow.
- Why do people of the Sahara desert wear heavy robes?
- To protect from dust storms and hot winds blowing across the desert.
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