Myth vs Reality: Desert Life

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 This short video addresses the misconception that there's no life in deserts.

Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach in collaboration with the NASA Earth Observatory.

All images, illustrations, and videos courtesy of NASA
 
except:
·       Image of Antarctic snow dunes courtesy of Mark Fahnestock, University of Maryland, College Park
·       Sea creature illustration copyright The National Library of Israel, Shapell Family Digitization Project _and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Department of Geography – Historic Cities Research Project
·       Image of clouds off Namibian coast courtesy of Chelys
·       Image of dunes in the Namib Desert courtesy of the USGS EROS Data Center Satellite Systems Branch
·       Namibian dune photo courtesy of Wikimedia user Alcazarfr
·       Photo of the Mandara Oasis in Libya courtesy of Rudolph Baumann
·       Photo of Astrophytum ornatum cactus courtesy of Wikimedia user Stan Shebs
·       Photos of desert plants courtesy of Wikimedia user Halfalah and Dr. Eric Christian (NASA)
·       Photo of fishhook barrel cactus courtesy of Susan Lynn Peterson
·       Photo of Ubari Oasis in Libya courtesy of Wikimedia user Sfivat
·       Image of alluvial fan in Takla Makan Desert courtesy of the USGS EROS Data Center Satellite Systems Branch
·       Photos of salt-covered croplands courtesy of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
 
Music courtesy of Associated Production Music
Written by Andrea Gianopoulos
Designed by Marc Lussier

(SPEECH)
[UPTEMPO MUSIC]
 
(DESCRIPTION)
A blue hexagon appears in the middle of a gray background split into two halves by a line. A banner is outlined in light blue for the title, Myth vs Reality. An illustration with sea serpents surrounding a ship is above Myth. A satellite view of a rocky desert landscape is above Reality, a dark, rotating planet floats in the background at the bottom. The Myth side is highlighted. Text, All deserts are barren and lifeless.
 
The reality side is highlighted. Text, Some deserts support a wide range of life. The Sonoran Desert, in the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico, hosts more than 2,000 native plant species and more than 550 species of vertebrate animals.