Gumunyu High School magazine

Location of Hot Deserts. The largest arid and semi-arid deserts occur between latitudes 15° and 30° North and South of the equator. Most of these deserts are located on the western sides of the continental masses on which they lie. They occur within the Trade wind belt where the winds are off-shore. Off-shore winds are those winds that blow from the shore towards the ocean. These winds (Trade winds) tend to be dry after loosing their moisture as they journey across the eastern side of contents. Although west coasts have on-shore winds (winds from the ocean towards the land) blowing towards them, they rarely bring rain. This is because the onshore winds meet with cold currents that blow parallel to coast lines (e.g. the Cold Benguela current in the case of the Kalahari and the Cold Angola current in the case of the Namib desert) this causes the moisture w...