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The world’s biggest desert has zero sand and it is not where you think
FOX Weather • • general
Key Points:
- Antarctica is the largest desert on Earth, defined not by heat but by extreme dryness, receiving only about 2 inches of precipitation annually.
- Covering approximately 5.4 million square miles, Antarctica is about 1.5 times larger than the Sahara Desert.
- Despite minimal precipitation, Antarctica is covered by miles of ice, containing around 90% of the world's ice and 70% of its fresh water.
- The continent's harsh, dry, and cold environment is often compared to Mars, with NASA using Antarctica to test robots for Mars missions.
- This challenges the common perception of deserts as hot and sandy, emphasizing that deserts are characterized primarily by low moisture levels.
