Over one-fifth of the vegetation of the Earth is covered with the barren field either be it in an extremely, mild or certainly lower level of temperature. This barren field is commonly known as desert. On an average there are two types of desert in the Earth’s vegetation. The hot desert and the cold desert are the broad category. Both of these desert have a very harsh climatic conditions by which they are categorize based on their temperature.
Hot Desert vs Cold Desert
The main difference between hot desert and cold desert is that in hot desert the temperature and the evaporation is very high with no seasonal effect on the temperature whereas, cold desert have very low temperature and has a significant seasonal effect on the temperature of the desert.
The hot deserts have high temperature, barren fields with low precipitation, with relatively minimum habitat of flora and fauna. The range of the geographical representation of this desert varies from 15 to 30 degrees north and south of the equator, mainly found in tropical and sub-tropical regions.
The cold deserts are generally found in the low temperature acquiring regions. These type of geographical locations can be easily found in regions with higher altitudes like hilly regions of Greenland, Antarctic etc. The temperature range of this type of desert consist of mildly warm summer and extremely cool winters with extreme snowfalls. The span of the winter weather tends to usually longer for the cold desert regions. The common range include -2 to 4 degree Celsius for the fall weather and 21-26 degree Celsius in the spring weather.
Comparison Table Between Hot Desert and Cold Desert
| Parameters of Comparison | Hot Desert | Cold Desert |
| Temperature | This desert comprises of very high temperature. | This desert comprises of very cold temperature. |
| Geography | These are found in the tropical and sub-tropical districts. | These are found in low temperature regions at higher altitude level. |
| Resemblance | The desert looks like an orange field covered with sandy soil. | The desert looks like grey field covered with ice. |
| Rainfall | The rainfall level is low and evaporation level is high. | The rainfall level is high compared to evaporation level. |
| Fauna | Foxes, dung beetles, camels etc. | Polar bear, dear etc. |
What is Hot Desert?
The hot deserts have high temperature, barren fields with low precipitation, with relatively minimum habitat of flora and fauna. The range of the geographical representation of this desert varies from 15 -30 degrees north and south of the equator, mainly found in tropical and sub-tropical regions.The annual rainfall in this kind of desert is relatively lower i.e. below 250 mm because of which the temperature tends to extremely warm and dry.
Relatively higher number of hot deserts have lower water intake or water availability because of the harsh windy weather they possess. The most extreme temperature in a hot desert by and large remaining parts more than 40 degree Celsius. The temperature in hot dessert do not go below 40 degrees Celsius and the maximum temperature which came into notice was of 57.77 degrees Celsius.
The vegetation of hot deserts is for the most part ‘xerophytic’ or dry season safe. It incorporates the prickly plants, bushes, acacia and wiry grasses. The fauna include Foxes, dung beetles, camels etc. all of these animals are capable of surviving such extremely hot weather conditions. Some famous hot deserts are Sahara Desert, Great Australian Desert, Arabian Desert etc.
What is Cold Desert?
The cold deserts are generally found in the low temperature acquiring regions. These type of geographical locations can be easily found in regions with higher altitudes like hilly regions of Greenland, Antarctic etc. The temperature range of this type of desert consist of mildly warm summer and extremely cool winters with extreme snowfalls.
The span of the winter weather tends to usually longer for the cold desert regions. The common range include -2 to 4 degree Celsius for the fall weather and 21-26 degree Celsius in the spring weather. The annual rainfall is relatively higher in the cold desert due which the landscape have extremely heavy snowfall.
Vegetation is dispersed with needle like leaves to retain the maximum water capacity. The creatures generally found in chilly deserts incorporate foxes, rabbits, and so forth, the fauna consists of Deer, kit fox and coyote, polar bears etc.
Main Differences Between Hot Desert and Cold Desert
- The hot desert comprises of very high temperature. while, the cold desert comprises of very cold temperature.
- The hot desert is found in the tropical and sub-tropical districts whereas,These are found in low temperature regions at higher altitude level.
- The hot desert looks like an orange field covered with sandy soil whereas, the cold desert looks like grey field covered with ice.
- The vegetation of hot deserts is for the most part ‘xerophytic’ or dry season safe. It incorporates the prickly plants, bushes, acacia and wiry grasses. While, the vegetation in the cold desert is dispersed with needle like leaves to retain maximum water capacity.
- The rainfall level is low and evaporation level is high for the hot desert and the rainfall level is high compared to evaporation level for the cold desert.
Conclusion
The hot deserts have high temperature, barren fields with low precipitation, with relatively minimum habitat of flora and fauna. The range of the geographical representation of this desert varies from 15 to 30 degrees north and south of the equator, mainly found in tropical and sub-tropical regions. The cold deserts are generally found in the low temperature acquiring regions.
These type of geographical locations can be easily found in regions with higher altitudes like hilly regions of Greenland, Antarctic etc. The temperature range of this type of desert consist of mildly warm summer and extremely cool winters with extreme snowfalls. In a simpler language a hot desert is a tropical desert with high temperature as it is battered by a hefty sun.
However, a cold desert has ice or snow in the colder time of year. They are at the high height areas of the world. The fundamental contrast among hot and cold desert is the temperature and area.
References
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1034/j.1600-0722.2002.21364.x
- http://journals.researchub.org/index.php/JSSHR/article/view/964