Can desertification happen in cold climates?

Answer 1

The short answer is "yes."

The long answer requires that you consider the meanings of the terms "desert" and "desertification." A desert, by definition, is any region that receives less than 10 inches (250mm) of precipitation annually. There is no temperature specification, therefore a desert may be either hot (e.g., the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of the US) or cold (the Gobi Desert of Asia). Deserts are typically surrounded by areas that receive too much precipitation to be technically a desert, but still a small amount. These areas are called "semi-arid."

Desertification is the conversion of non-desert land to desert; which requires a small-scale climatic shift. This is sometimes the result of a feedback loop in climate caused by the reduction of land cover. For instance, overgrazing and deforestation of the semi-arid regions adjacent to true deserts reduce the amount of water released by transpiration from the plants and increase runoff when there is precipitation. If teh change in flora is left unchecked, less water is retained locally and therefore less water is available for precipitation. The remaining semi-arid flora is water-starved and becomes out-competed by plants that require less water. The result is the spread of a desert climate - and ecology - into a region or regions that were formerly semi-arid. A classic case of anthropogenic - human-caused - desertification has taken place in the region around Damascus, Syria. Desertification may also be caused by mega-climate shifts as well.

In any case, since desertification simply means expansion of a desert into the semi-arid regions that surround it, it should be clear that desertification is not temperature-dependent.

Answer 2

Yes - it can happen anywhere.

Desertification in it's simplest form is the loss of land to desert. In this sense desert can be sand, rock, snow, ice - basically a barren wasteland or any kind.

With the warming of the earth and the retreat of glaciers and snowlines it's more likely that in cold climates reverse-desertification is going to take place.

If you look on Africa's highest mountains for example (Kilimanjaro), it's likely that the snows will no longer be a permenant feature in a few years time and may eventually disappear altogether. However, some of the different types of flora are encrouaching higher up the mountain and areas which once had very few plant species growing now have more.

Answer 3

Yep, most of Antarctica is a desert

Q. How much snow does antarctica get a day?

A. Antarctica is a very big continent. The amount of snow depends on where you are on this very big land. In general Antarctica is extremely dry and there is very little precipitation. The definition of a desert is an area that receives less than an annual average precipitation of 250mm. The dry inland plateau of Antarctica on average only receives about 50mm of precipitation per year, while the relatively wet coats on average receives about 200mm of precipitation per year, both below the definition of a desert. Of course most of the precipitation that falls in Antarctica is in the form of snow. In very rare conditions along the coast rain is possible.

Answer 4

1. Most of the Antarctic is a desert -- very little precipitation over a long period.
2. Atacama Desert in the Andes Mountains is damn cold place and no rain in some areas there for over 400 years.

so the answer is YES.

Answer 5

Yes the Gobi Desert W of China is in a cold area.

Answer 6

Yes, Northern US and Southern Canada, Sweden, Iceland, Russia, etc.

http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/land_deg/land_deg.html

Answer 7

The arctic IS a desert. The definition of desert is just a hostile climate/area. DESERT sounds like DESERTED, hmm?

Answer 8

Not that old chest nut.I wish I had a penny for every time I had to answer this one. Probably if your in the middle of one a large proportion of the world is uninhabitable

Answer 9

Yes ! By definition, the arctic is a dessert. Check out the meaning of dessert.

Answer 10

Antarctica, by definition, of a very dry place, is the coldest desert, on the planet. It's the dryest place on earth.