Talk:Desert

Semi-protected edit request on 8 March 2022
As an Australian, living in the outback, I can safely say I have never heard of the 'Great Australian Desert', nor does the article it links to mention it, nor is it present in the reference given for 'The ten largest deserts table'. Request: Could 'Great Australian Desert' be removed from the table and be replaced with the 'Great Victoria desert' at a position that matches the reference given. Gehyra Australis (talk) 03:33, 8 March 2022 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 24 August 2016
In the article Desert / Biogeography  it is stated that "Cacti are restricted to North America", which is not correct as they are also present in South America  .

I would suggest something like "Cacti are present in both North and South America, with a post-Gondwana origin". I am not a cactus specialist, but the error is evident. 200.199.130.68 (talk) 18:20, 24 August 2016 (UTC)
 * ✅ Updated. -- Dane 2007  talk 21:29, 26 August 2016 (UTC)

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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100503131800/http://www.businessweek.com:80/technology/content/feb2006/tc20060214_533101.htm to http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2006/tc20060214_533101.htm

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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20131202230220/http://www.idl.ku.edu/ara/AARPS/documents/ESD-emi/Latham_1963.pdf to http://www.idl.ku.edu/ara/AARPS/documents/ESD-emi/Latham_1963.pdf
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100420101357/http://www.agc.army.mil/research/products/desert_guide/lsmsheet/lsplain.htm to http://www2.agc.army.mil/research/products/desert_guide/lsmsheet/lsplain.htm
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100226171511/http://www.agc.army.mil/research/products/desert_guide/lsmsheet/lssand.htm to http://www2.agc.army.mil/research/products/desert_guide/lsmsheet/lssand.htm
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20101123183616/http://www.agc.army.mil/research/products/desert_guide/lsmsheet/lsdune.htm to http://www2.agc.army.mil/research/products/desert_guide/lsmsheet/lsdune.htm
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150104014524/http://biology.unm.edu/ccouncil/Biology_112/Summaries/Plant_Adaptations.html to http://biology.unm.edu/ccouncil/Biology_112/Summaries/Plant_Adaptations.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20130426062725/http://www.nynrm.sa.gov.au/Portals/7/pdf/biodiversity/flora.pdf to http://www.nynrm.sa.gov.au/Portals/7/pdf/biodiversity/flora.pdf
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Edit request: Expansion of one sentence for clarity.
Regarding the first clause of the last sentence under Human Relations --> History:

Overgrazing is still considered a cause of desertification. The reference is a TED Talk whose presenter is distinguishing between that and "adequate" grazing. He argues that undergrazing is also a problem (though he doesn't say it in those words) because herds are needed to flatten tall grasses, which encourages "biological decay" (as opposed to oxidative decomposition) and creates a microclimate underneath, regulating temperature and retaining moisture. This results in new grassland growth next season, as opposed to favoring woody plants and leaving soil bare. (This was all in the TED Talk.)

All that to suggest my edit: "Although overgrazing is still considered to be a cause of desertification, there is some evidence that "planned grazing", actively managed with livestock, actually improves vegetation cover and land fertility and production. Livestock reduction or removal may actually encourage erosive processes."

2001:569:7466:DA00:CD28:BED8:7121:5F66 (talk) 03:34, 22 November 2017 (UTC)


 * Many thanks. You'd be right, but we shouldn't really be using TED talks as sources anyway, they're just people's opinions, and this one is certainly controversial and would need far more solid evidence, so I've removed it. Better sources are already used just above that passage giving the main points. Chiswick Chap (talk) 12:39, 9 December 2017 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 6 June 2018
2001:8003:3DD2:BA00:DD6A:19A7:9354:57AA (talk) 04:18, 6 June 2018 (UTC) desert is a hot place
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. LittlePuppers (talk) 04:44, 6 June 2018 (UTC)

Arctic is not a single desert
There's no single Arctic desert. There may be deserts in the Arctic region, but parts of the Arctic has more precipitation than the limit for deserts. This obviously means that the Arctic is not a single desert, never mind different regions are separated by open sea! The northern polar ice may seem like a desert, but it's over water, so it's not a desert by definition and the ice is not static or permanent. Now compare with the Afro-Asian desert belt. If we go by this idea that all of the Arctic landmass is a single desert, then this also must apply to the entire desert region in Africa and Asia, from Mauretania to China. 109.56.153.130 (talk) 13:11, 22 January 2019 (UTC)
 * The actual Artic desert, which is actually several deserts, covers a region of islands and is much smaller than stated here. There is, in fact, a Wikipedia article correctly describing the Arctic desert here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_desert which is strongly at odds with the desert list in this Wikipedia article. 62.44.134.224 (talk) 11:16, 12 February 2022 (UTC)

Dome C
Internal link for Dome C. --77.173.90.33 (talk) 11:55, 28 May 2019 (UTC)
 * Yes check.svg Done NiciVampireHeart 12:04, 28 May 2019 (UTC)
 * Thanks. --77.173.90.33 (talk) 12:36, 28 May 2019 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 7 August 2019
"Mars is the only planet in the Solar System on which deserts have been identified." → "Mars is the only planet in the Solar System besides Earth on which deserts have been identified." The statement is technically inaccurate otherwise. 81.97.179.9 (talk) 16:17, 7 August 2019 (UTC)
 * ✅. El_C 16:20, 7 August 2019 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 4 January 2020
"the only other planet in the Solar System besides earth" → "the only other planet in the Solar System besides Earth", per MOS:CELESTIALBODIES. 148.252.24.230 (talk) 21:30, 4 January 2020 (UTC)
 * ✅ Ghmyrtle (talk) 21:38, 4 January 2020 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 07:08, 30 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Qeshm Museum-Iran 2018.jpg

Ocean Deserts?
If a desert is a place with little precipitation, then large parts of the ocean would qualify (for example, off the coast of Senegal, hardly any rain falls). Is there a name for such places? 68.196.1.236 (talk) 18:43, 14 August 2021 (UTC)captcrisis
 * Deserts are land. How the precipitation is over the oceans is irrelevant. However, this article has many severe errors, the biggest is still the inclusion of a single Arctic desert, which is not something that exists at all. It's an internet myth. 62.44.134.224 (talk) 10:57, 12 February 2022 (UTC)
 * The article itself states that there are various definitions of the term. I personally favor the concept of low average biological production (that is low growth) over an extended compact surface area for at least decades (climate = weather over 20+ yrs). This could very well include ocean dead zones including near-land anoxic zones. Consider whether parts of an ice sheet should be excluded from the less nuanced definition depending on whether it is over (ocean) water. floating? Resting on sea bed? What if it's resting on land below sea level? How about lakes in Antarctica? Standing 1 or 2 miles on ice over a lake surrounded by desert, but its not desert there? The definition as given is inadequate. And let's also consider desert islands. Actually, as long as the obvious *flaws* of the definition are mentioned (they're NOT), I think it's OK to keep it. Surely, this has been discussed among the (teaching) geography community.40.142.183.146 (talk) 08:32, 24 July 2023 (UTC)

Scarify
please change ((scarify)) to ((Scarification (botany)|scarify)) 98.239.227.65 (talk) 01:46, 15 October 2022 (UTC)
 * done.--Vsmith (talk) 02:50, 15 October 2022 (UTC)

Impacts of climate change
Effects of climate change on deserts are not mentioned in this article. Should the article describe any of these effects, such as desertification? Jarble (talk) 23:27, 29 February 2024 (UTC)