The document summarizes the climate and vegetation of Southwest Asia. The region receives very little rainfall, averaging only 18 inches per year compared to 48 inches in Houston. This results in large deserts such as the Rub al Khali desert in Arabia, the An-Nafud desert in Saudi Arabia, and the Syrian desert. Sometimes oases can be found, which are pockets of vegetation around underground springs. In addition to sandy deserts, the region also contains salt flats in Iran where rainfall is blocked by surrounding mountains, leaving behind salt deposits like the Dasht-e Kavir and Dasht-e Lut deserts that are uninhabited with little plant or animal life.

1. SW Asia: Climate and Vegetation

2. The region is dry – most of it averages just 18 inches of rain per year. Compare that with the 48 inches that Houston annually receives. That’s almost an extra three and a half feet of water.

4. Deserts Rub al-Khali “ The Empty Quarter” or “The Place Where No One Comes Out” This is a massive desert in the southeastern Arabian Peninsula and is about the size of Texas.

5. Some of the sand dunes can reach 800 feet tall. The Empire State Building is 1,250 feet tall.

9. An-Nafud Desert North of Rub Al-Khali Syrian Desert North of An-Nafud Negev Desert Mainly located in Israel

10. Sometimes you’ll get an oasis. These are pockets of vegetation in the desert that are usually fed by underground springs.

11. Salt Deserts Not all deserts are just a bunch of sand. Sometimes they’re salt flats. Salt flats develop when winds evaporate the moisture in the soil, but leave behind the salts that were in that water. This is what happens in Iran when the mountains surrounding the country keep out rain. Iran has two salt flat deserts: the Dasht-e Kavir in the central area and the Dasht-e Lut in the east. They’re hot, uninhabited and nearly devoid of any flora or fauna

12. Dasht-e Kavir

13. Dasht-e Lut

15. This is the Bonneville Salt Flat in Utah.