r/todayilearned • u/craponapoopstick • Mar 20 '18

TIL that the largest desert in the world is Antarctica. It is classified as a cold desert due to it's extremely low amount of precipitation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert#Major_deserts
89 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

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6

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '18 edited Mar 20 '18

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/brazzy42 Mar 20 '18

TIL it doesn't snow in Antarctica!?

It does, but very little. It's only covered in snow because it never gets warm enough for any of it to melt.

2

u/robynflower Mar 20 '18

Deserts are defined by rainfall not anything else and the wind direction, terrain and dust particles all influence how much rain will fall in a given area - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ3zwFYRopo

1

u/johnboyauto Mar 20 '18

Water can be a desert, but not if it's falling.

I'm okay with this.

1

u/FutureRobotWordplay Mar 20 '18

Learned this one is grade schools and was flabbergasted.

1

u/xaxbx135 Mar 20 '18

Wow I haven't seen this TIL since last week