Arabian Desert


The Arabian Desert is a vast desert wilderness in Western Asia. It stretches from Yemen to the Persian Gulf and Oman to Jordan and Iraq. It occupies most of the Arabian Peninsula, with an area of. It is the fifth largest desert in the world, and the largest in Asia. At its center is Ar-Rub'al-Khali, one of the largest continuous bodies of sand in the world.
Gazelles, oryx, sand cats, and spiny-tailed lizards are just some of the desert-adapted species that survive in this extreme environment, which features everything from red dunes to deadly quicksand. The climate is mostly dry, and temperatures oscillate between very high heat and seasonal night time freezes. It is part of the deserts and xeric shrublands biome and the Palearctic realm.
The Arabian desert ecoregion holds little biodiversity, although a few endemic plants grow here. Many species, such as the striped hyena, jackal and honey badger have become extirpated due to hunting, human encroachment and habitat destruction. Other species have been successfully re-introduced, such as the Arabian sand gazelle, and are protected at a number of reserves. Overgrazing by livestock, off-road driving, and human destruction of habitat are the main threats to this desert ecoregion.

Geology and geography

Detailed geological features:
Natural resources available in the Arabian Desert include oil, natural gas, phosphates, and sulfur.
The Rub'al-Khali has very limited floristic diversity. There are only 37 plant species, 20 recorded in the main body of the sands and 17 around the outer margins. Of these 37 species, one or two are endemic. Vegetation is very diffuse but fairly evenly distributed, with some interruptions of near sterile dunes. Some typical plants are:
Other widespread species are:
Very few trees are found except at the outer margin. Other species are a woody perennial Calligonum comosum, and annual herbs such as Danthonia forskallii.
The Asiatic cheetah and lion used to be here.

Climate

The Arabian Desert has a subtropical, hot desert climate, similar to the climate of the Sahara Desert; the world's largest hot desert. The Arabian Desert is actually an extension of the Sahara Desert over the Arabian peninsula. The climate is mainly hot and dry with plenty of sunshine throughout the year. The rainfall amount is generally around, and the driest areas can receive between 30 and of annual rain. Such dryness remains rare throughout the desert, however. There are few areas in the Arabian Desert, in contrast with the Sahara Desert, where more than half of the area is hyperarid. The sunshine duration in the Arabian Desert is very high by global standards, between 2,900 hours and 3,600 hours, but it is typically around 3,400 hours, thus clear-sky conditions prevail over the region and cloudy periods are intermittent. Even though the sun and moon are bright, dust and humidity cause lower visibility at ground level. The temperatures remain high all year round. Average high temperatures in summer are generally over at low elevations, and can even soar to at extremely low elevations, especially along the Persian Gulf near sea level. Average low temperatures in summer remain high, over and sometimes over in the southernmost regions. Record high temperatures are above in much of the desert, due in part to very low elevation.

Political borders

The desert lies mostly in Saudi Arabia, extending into the surrounding countries of Egypt, southern Iraq and southern Jordan. The Arabian desert is bordered by 5 countries. Bordering the Persian Gulf, there is an extension into Qatar and, further east, the region covers almost all of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The Rub'al-Khali crosses over from Saudi Arabia into western Oman and eastern Yemen.

People, language and cultures

The area is home to several different cultures, languages, and peoples, with Islam as the predominant faith. The major ethnic group in the region is the Arabs, whose primary language is Arabic.

Settlements

In the center of the desert lies Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, with more than 7 million inhabitants. Other large cities, such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, or Kuwait City, lie on the coast of the Persian Gulf.

Ecological threats

The conservation status of the desert is critical/endangered, with species including the sand gazelle and white oryx threatened, and honey badgers, jackals, and striped hyaenas already extirpated.
No formal protected areas exist, but a number of protected areas are planned for Abu Dhabi.

Gulf wars

In January 1991 during the Gulf War, Iraqi forces released about 1.7 million m³ of oil from storage tanks and tankers directly into the Persian Gulf. In February, they also destroyed 1,164 Kuwaiti oil wells. It took nine months to extinguish these oil fires. These oil spills contaminated of Persian Gulf coast. The result of the pollution was the death of thousands of water birds and serious damage to the Persian Gulf's aquatic ecosystem, particularly shrimp, sea turtles, dugongs, whales, dolphins and fish. The damaged wells also released 10 million m³ of oil into the desert and formed lakes. All this damage was done to impede Coalition forces.
Just before the 2003 Iraq War, they also set fire to various oil fields.