SAHARA DESERT


Nature Description:

The Sahara is the world's largest hot desert, located in northern Africa. It stretches from the Red Sea to the Atlantic. The vast Sahara encompasses several ecologically distinct regions. The Sahara desert ecoregion covers an area of 1,791,500 square miles in the hot, hyper-arid center of the Sahara, surrounded on the north, south, east, and west by desert ecoregions with higher rainfall and more vegetation.

The surface of the desert ranges from large areas of sand dunes, to stone plateaus, gravel plains, dry valleys, and salt flats. The only permanent river that crosses the ecoregion is the Nile River, which originates in central Africa and empties northwards into the Mediterranean Sea.

The Sahara was one of the first regions of Africa to be farmed. Some 5000 years ago, the area was not so arid and the vegetation might have been closer to a savanna. Previous fauna may be recognised in stone carvings. However, desertification set in around 3000 BCE, and the area became much like it is today. The Sahara is largely undisturbed. The most degradation is found in areas where there is water, such as aquifer oases or along the desert margins where some rain usually falls most years. In these areas, animals such as addaxes, scimitar-horned oryxes, and bustards are over-hunted for their meat. Only one area of conservation is recorded in the Sahara: Zellaf Nature Reserve in Libya.

A relatively convenient way to approach the scenery of the heart of the Sahara is through Morocco. From Marrakesh or Fez one climbs up over the High Atlas Mountains and thereupon enters the desert.