Shortlisted
The Gobi Desert
French International School (Primary), Daniel Roath, 8
H
ave you ever heard of a rain shadow? A rain shadow is a dry area on the earth that is
caused by large mountain ranges that block rain clouds from reaching that area. The
result of the rain shadow is often a desert. The Gobi Desert, the largest desert in Asia
and fifth largest in the world, stretching across Northern China and Southern Mongolia
is an example of a rain shadow. The Himalayan mountain range to the south blocks most rain
from reaching the Gobi Desert.
Very little rain falls in the Gobi Desert. In fact, only an average of 194mm of rain falls
annually here. Compare that to Hong Kong which once had 145mm of rain in just one hour!
With so little water available to support life the number of people living in the Gobi Desert
has never been that large. Rather than remain in one place and build large cities, people of the
Gobi generally must move from location to location to find new sources of water. Because of the
need to move regularly, the population of the Gobi have been traditionally nomads. Nomads are
people that do not have a permanent home like you and I here in Hong Kong. Their homes are
tents that they can move along with their livestock herds.
Humans aren’t the only species that learned to adapt in the Gobi Desert. This desert has a wide
variety of animals. Unfortunately, a few of these animals are now very endangered including the
snow leopard and the Gobi bear. The largest animal of the Gobi is the Bactrian camel. It has two
humps and is able to live quite comfortably despite the lack of water, very cold temperatures, and
high altitudes. These camels were also used to transport goods in caravans in ancient times along
the Silk Road which crossed the Gobi Desert. Without the Bactrian camel, crossing the Gobi Desert
in a caravan along the Silk Road would have been very difficult!
Many plants of the region have also figured out how to survive without much water. Rather
than collect water from leaves, the trees in the Gobi Desert have many long roots that are able to
search for water across a large area.
Today, the Gobi Desert continues to grow. It is growing mostly because many of the
surrounding trees have been cut down and the livestock have eaten much of the available grass.
This is known as desertification. With no trees or grass, the wind is able to push the sand further
and the desert grows. It is growing at a very fast pace. It is important to find a way to stop the
desert growing and scientists are discussing possible ways. Similar to Hong Kong, reducing
pollution is one of the needed steps!
