Aridity
Climate Change 2021 – The Physical Science Basis, Annex VII: Glossary, written by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and published by Cambridge University Press in 2023, defines arid zones as: ‘Areas where vegetation growth is severely constrained due to limited water availability. For the most part, the native vegetation of arid zones is sparse. There is high rainfall variability, with annual averages below 300 mm. Crop farming in arid zones requires irrigation.’
It defines aridity as: ‘The state of a long-term climatic feature characterized by low average precipitation or available water in a region. Aridity generally arises from widespread persistent atmospheric subsidence or anticyclonic conditions, and from more localized subsidence in the lee side of mountains.’
See also: Drought.
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