Question

Distinguish between Cold desert and hot desert.

Mention two differences between the cold deserts and the hot deserts of the world.

Answer 1

• Cold desert:
  1. A barren or desolate area especially a sandy region of little rainfall, featuring cold dry winter.
  2. Cold deserts are found in the Antarctic, Greenland, Western China, Turkmenistan, and the Gobi Desert in Mongolia.
• Hot desert:
  1. A barren or desolate area, often a sandy region of little rainfall.
  2. The largest hot desert is the Sahara Desert.

Answer 2

Aspect	Cold deserts	Hot deserts
Temperature & seasonality	Generally very cold most of the year with long, severe winters and short, cool summers.	Very hot by day with large diurnal temperature swings; summers are hot, and winters are mild to cool.
Precipitation & vegetation	Very low precipitation (often as snow); vegetation is sparse and cold‑tolerant (mosses, lichens, sedges, very few shrubs).	Very low rainfall (usually 25 cm/year); vegetation is xerophytic (cacti, succulents, thorny shrubs) adapted to conserve water.
Soil/ground conditions	Soils are often rocky, gravelly, or underlain by permafrost (permanently or seasonally frozen ground), limiting deep root growth.	Soils are typically sandy or thin with low organic matter, rapid heating/cooling, and little moisture retention.
Animals & human use	Fauna adapted to cold, e.g., polar species, migratory or insulating traits. Human populations are sparse and often semi‑nomadic or dependent on fishing/hunting.	Fauna adapted to heat and water scarcity (nocturnal, burrowing); human use includes oasis agriculture, nomadism, and limited irrigation‑based farming.