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Deserts are also hot areas, and they lack the water found in jungles. A typical desert receives less than 10 inches (250 mm) of precipitation annually. Some deserts are hot and dry because, like the ancient Mediterranean Basin, they are below sea level. The Dead Sea in the Middle East3.216 and Death Valley3.217 in the Mojave Desert of California (3,000 miles2 or 7,800 km2) are the two dramatic examples today. There are giant deserts in northern Africa: the Sahara (3,500,000 miles2) or 9,000,000 km2);3.218 western China's Taklanakan Desert3.219 in the Tarim Basin (270,000 km2); western India's Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert (238,700 km2), in the Rajasthan Basin; Australian deserts, including:3.220 Great Victoria (348,750 km2), Great Sandy (267,250 km2), Tanami (184 km2), Simpson (176 km2), Gibson (156 km2), and Little Sandy (111,500 km2); and North American deserts like the Great Basin3.221 where Lake Bonneville was located (200,000 miles2 or 520,000 km2); the Chihuahuan Desert3.222 at the Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Mexican Borders (362,600 km2), the Colorado Plateau3.223 around the four corners area (130,000 miles2 or 337,000 km2), and the Sonoran Desert (sometimes called the Gila Desert)3.224 in southern California and the Mexican state of
Sonora (120,000 miles2 or 311,000 km2) where there are 60
mammal species, 350 bird species, 20 amphibian species, 100+ reptile species, 30 native fish species, and more than 2,000 native plant species exist. Deserts
take up one-third of the land surface, have high temperature ranges, and sparse vegetation.3.225
An overview of life on earth is incomplete without reviewing the various plains and prairies on the earth. This includes the Great Plains in Central North America. Most of biological density here are the grasses, herbs, and a few trees. Compared to the poles or the oceans, these areas have moderate temperatures and extensive life.3.226 The Russian steppes are semi-desert plains covered with grass or shrubs or both, depending on the season and the latitude. They are typically too dry to support a forest. There are equivalent plains on the fringes of the Sahara Desert in Africa or the Thar desert of India or the deserts in Australia.3.227 The distribution of biology across the prairies makes perfect sense for the temperature ranges and elevations included. Nature has a plan, and follows this plan with precision, all across the globe.
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paradoxes