Or, more precisely, the distance between the ground and the center of the eyeball. But assuming the earth were a perfect sphere: Average radius of earth = 6,372,797 meters Draw a circle representing the earth.
As a result, the Namib receives an average annual rainfall of only 2.5cm (1in). The sand dunes of the desert receive moisture from the atmosphere, in the form of fog. Every 10 days or so, a dense night fog rolls inland for a distance of 80km (50mi) or more, shrouding the coast and much of the desert. The fog condenses into a thick dew, creating an annual average of 4cm (1.6in) of moisture. Temperature in the Namib reaches a high of 66Â°C (150Â°F) in the middle of the day. Gravel and rock plains extend north from the Kuiseb River. The treacherous coastal waters of this region regularly snare ships, such as the Dunedin Star (1942) and the Shawnee (1976), and cast them up on the shifting sands.
A semi-desert, with huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains, the Kalahari supports more animals and plants than a true desert, such as the Namib Desert to the west. There are small amounts of rainfall and the summer temperature is very high.The driest areas usually receive 110â200 millimetres (4.3â7.9 in) of rain per year, and the wettest just a little over 500 millimetres (20 in).t is the southern tropical equivalent of the Sahelian climate. The altitude has been adduced as the explanation why the Kalaharian climate is not tropical; its altitude ranges from 600 to 1600 meters (and generally from 800 to 1200 meters), resulting in a cooler climate than that of the Sahel or Sahara.