Class 7 Geography Chapter 7 Question Answers - Life in the Deserts

Q1. Which areas are called desert?
Ans: Some places are very hot as fire while some are very cold as ice. These are the desert areas of the world. Depending on the temperatures, these may be hot desert or cold deserts.

Q2. Describe the climate of the Sahara desert.
Ans: The climate of the Sahara desert is scorching hot and parch dry. It has a short rainy season. Days are unbelievable hot, it may be as high as 50°C while nights may be freezing cold with temperatures nearing 0°C.

Q3. What is found besides the vast stretches of sands in the Sahara desert?
Ans: Besides the vast stretches of sands, there are also gravel plains and elevated plateaus with bare rocky surface. These rocky surfaces may be more than 2500m high at some places.

Q4. Write a short note on Sahara desert.
Ans: 

• Sahara is the world’s largest desert. Sahara desert covers a large part of North Africa. It has an area of around 8.54 million s km. The Sahara desert touches 11 countries. These are Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia and Western Sahara. Besides the vast stretches of sands, there are also gravel plains and elevated plateaus with bare rocky surface. These rocky surfaces may be more than 2500 m high at some places.
• The climate of the Sahara desert is scorching hot and parch dry. It has a short rainy season. Days are unbelievable hot, it may be as high as 50°C while nights may be freezing cold with temperatures nearing 0°C. Cactus, date palms and acacia etc., are vegetation found in the Sahara desert.
• In some places there are oasis-green islands with date palms surrounding them. Camels, hyenas, jackals, foxes, scorpions, many varieties of snakes and lizards are the prominent animal species living there.

Q5. Describe about the vegetation and animals found in Ladakh.
Ans: Due to high aridity in Ladakh, the vegetation is sparse. There are scanty patches of grasses and shrubs for animals to graze. Groves of willows and poplars are seen in the valleys. Fruit trees such as apples, apricots and walnuts are found during the summers. Robins, redstarts, Tibetan snow-cock, raven and hoopoe are found commonly.
The animals of Ladakh are wild goats, wild sheep, yak and special kinds of dogs. Yak’s milk is used to make cheese and butter. The hair of the sheep and goat is used to make woolens. In the summer season the people are busy cultivating barley, potatoes, peas, beans and turnip.

Q6. Write a short note on cold desert of Ladakh.
Ans: Ladakh is a cold desert lying in the Great Himalayas, on the eastern side of Jammu and Kashmir. The Karakoram Range in the north and the Zanskar mountains in the south enclose it. River Indus and Gangri glacier are found in Ladakh.
The altitude (height) in Ladakh varies from about 3000 m in Kargil to more than 8,000 m in the Karakoram. Due to its high altitude, the climate is extremely cold and dry. The day temperatures in summer are just above 0°C and the night temperatures well below -30°C. There is little rainfall, as low as 10 cm every year.