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A desert is a barren area of land where little precipitation occurs and consequently living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to the processes of denudation. About one third of the land surface of the world is arid or semi-arid. This includes much of the polar regions where little precipitation occurs and which are sometimes called “cold deserts”. There are a number of ways of classifying deserts including by the amount of precipitation that falls, by the temperature that prevails, by the causes of desertification or by the geographical location of the desert.

Semiarid deserts have long, mostly dry summers and little precipitation in winter. The temperature does not rise as high as in hot deserts, averaging 21 °C (70 °F) to 27 °C (81 °F) in summer and the evenings and nights are cool.As a result, condensation occurs and these areas may receive most of their precipitation in the form of dew. The soil ranges from a fine sand to a coarse gravel and is usually shallow and well-drained. Plants tend to be spiny or have glaucous, silvery or glossy leaves.

Coastal deserts are mostly found on the western edges of continental land masses in regions where cold currents from the polar regions approach the land or cold water upwellings rise from the ocean depths.

In some parts of the world, deserts are created by a rain shadow effect. Orographic lift occurs as air masses rise to pass over high ground. In the process they cool and lose much of their moisture by precipitation on the windward slope of the mountain range. When they descend on the leeward side, they warm and their capacity to hold moisture increases so an area with relatively little precipitation occurs.

Source: Wikipedia