Editing Desert climate (section)

==Cold desert climates==
{{Redirect|BWk||BWK (disambiguation){{!}}BWK}}
[[File:Koppen-Geiger_Map_v2_BWk_1991–2020.svg|thumb|left|Regions with cold desert climates]]
Cold desert climates (''BWk'') usually feature hot (or warm in a few instances), dry summers, though summers are not typically as hot as hot desert climates. Unlike hot desert climates, cold desert climates tend to feature cold, dry winters. Snow tends to be rare in regions with this climate. The [[Gobi Desert]] in northern China and Mongolia is one example of a cold desert. Though hot in the summer, it shares the freezing winters of the rest of [[Inner Asia]]. Summers in South America's [[Atacama Desert]] are mild, with only slight temperature variations between seasons. Cold desert climates are typically found at higher altitudes than hot desert climates and are usually drier than hot desert climates.

[[File:Llano de la Jaula, Vallenar (Chili).jpg|thumb|The Atacama Desert in Chile]]
[[File:Camel in Gobi Desert 01.jpg|thumb|The Gobi Desert in Mongolia]]

Cold desert climates are typically located in temperate zones in the 30s and 40s latitudes, usually in the leeward [[rain shadow]] of high mountains, restricting precipitation from the westerly winds. An example of this is the [[Patagonian Desert]] in Argentina, bounded by the [[Andes|Andes ranges]] to its west. In the case of Central Asia, mountains restrict precipitation from the [[East Asian monsoon|eastern monsoon]]. The [[Kyzyl Kum]], [[Taklamakan Desert|Taklamakan]] and [[Cold Desert, Skardu|Katpana Desert]] deserts of [[Central Asia]] are other significant examples of ''BWk'' climates. The [[Ladakh]] region and the city of [[Leh]] in the [[Great Himalayas]] in India also have a cold desert climate. In North America, the cold desert climate occurs in the drier parts of the [[Great Basin Desert]] and the [[Bighorn Basin]] in [[Big Horn County, Wyoming|Big Horn]] and [[Washakie County, Wyoming|Washakie County]] in [[list of counties in Wyoming|Wyoming]]. The [[Hautes Plaines]], located in the northeastern section of [[Morocco]] and in [[Algeria]], is another prominent example of a cold desert climate. In [[Europe]], this climate only occurs in some inland parts of southeastern Spain, such as in [[Lorca, Spain|Lorca]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Valores climatológicos normales |website=Agencia Estatal de Meteorología |url=https://www.aemet.es/es/serviciosclimaticos/datosclimatologicos/valoresclimatologicos |access-date=2024-01-08 |language=es |archive-date=2023-03-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326032223/https://www.aemet.es/es/serviciosclimaticos/datosclimatologicos/valoresclimatologicos |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="ChazzaraBernabé_2022"/>

Polar climate desert areas in the Arctic and Antarctic regions receive very little precipitation during the year owing to the cold, dry air freezing most precipitation. Polar desert climates have desert-like features that occur in cold desert climates, including intermittent streams, hypersaline lakes, and extremely barren terrain in unglaciated areas such as the [[McMurdo Dry Valleys]] of Antarctica. These areas are generally classified as having [[polar climate]]s because they have average summer temperatures below {{convert|10|°C|0}} even if they have some characteristics of extreme non-polar deserts. <ref>{{Cite web | url=https://sand-boarding.com/cold-deserts/ | title=Cold deserts: what they are and where can you find them | date=3 January 2022 | access-date=2022-03-03 | archive-date=2024-09-10 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240910142007/https://sand-boarding.com/cold-deserts/ | url-status=live }}{{better source needed|date=September 2024}}</ref>