Q. Consider the following statements regarding planetary desert records and extremes:
1.The Arctic Desert represents the largest geographical desert system on Earth, followed closely by the Antarctic Desert.
2.The Carcross Desert, located in Yukon, Canada, holds the record as the smallest recognized desert surface area globally.
3.The Atacama Desert is classified as the world’s driest non-polar desert and receives lower mean annual precipitation than typical polar deserts.
4.The Sahara Desert covers a total land surface area exceeding 14 million square kilometers, making it larger than the Antarctica.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Answer: B
Notes:
Detailed Explanation:
- Statement 1 is incorrect: The Antarctic Desert is the largest desert in the world (14.2 million sq km), followed by the Arctic Desert as the second-largest (13.9 million sq km).
- Statement 2 is correct: The Carcross Desert in Canada measures only about 2.5 square kilometers. It is technically a series of northern sand dunes kept dry by rain shadow effects, commonly considered the smallest desert worldwide.
- Statement 3 is correct: The Atacama Desert is a hyper-arid non-polar desert. Certain weather stations there have recorded zero rainfall for decades, making its precipitation levels lower than even parts of the frozen poles.
- Statement 4 is incorrect: The Sahara Desert covers approximately 9.2 million square kilometers, not 14 million (which is closer to the size of Antarctica).
