The living world - hot deserts key terms

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Appropriate technology (or Intermediate technology)

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Technology that is suited to the needs, skills, resources, knowledge and wealth of local people in the environment in which they live.

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Biodiversity

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The variety of life in the world or a particular habitat.

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Desertification

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The process by which land becomes drier and degraded, as a result of climate change or human activities, or both.

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Hot desert

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An ecosystem that is characterised by high average temperatures and very low precipitation.

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Mineral extraction

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The removal of solid mineral resources from the earth. These resources include ores, which contain commercially valuable amounts of metals (e.g., iron and aluminium), precious stones (e.g., diamonds), building stones (e.g., granite), and solid fuels (e.g., coal and oil shale).

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Over-cultivation

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Exhausting the soil by over-cropping the land.

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Overgrazing

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Grazing too many livestock for too long on the land, so vegetation cover is depleted and is unable to recover.