Antarctic Desert

The largest desert on Earth: the whole polar continent, locked in ice, with the driest place on the planet in its valleys.

Specifications & Metrics

area

~14 million km²

Core Principles & Analysis

• Deserts are defined by precipitation, and Antarctica's interior receives less than 50 mm a year.
• The McMurdo Dry Valleys within it have not seen rain for possibly two million years.
• It holds about sixty per cent of the world's fresh water, frozen.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Antarctica