By now, it should be obvious that by a process of elimination, the ideal candidate locations are parts of deserts. The deserts of the world are generally defined as regions receiving less than 10 inches of precipitation annually and/or where the potential evaporation rate is double that of the precipitation (113, 114). Although this technically includes the Arctic and Antarctic, for reason (5) above, they are ruled out. The rest include subtropical, cool coastal and cold winter deserts, with temperatures ranging from 10-120?F. These biomes cover almost 7.5 million square miles or 13% of the earth’s land area.

The largest of these is the Sahara, some 3.5 million square miles in size, covering most of North Africa. The smallest, 13,000 square miles, is the Namib, the world’s oldest desert, located along the west coast of southern Africa (5). The table below summarizes some relevant facts about the world’s deserts as they relate to albedo enhancement potential (5, 114):

Desert Location Size, Square Miles

Sahara Morocco, W. Sahara, 3,500,000

Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt,

Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad,

Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia

Arabian Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, 1,000,000

Qatar, United Arab Emirates,

Oman, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, Iraq

Kalahari Botswana, S. Africa, Namibia 220,000

Australian Australia 576,000

Great Western

Simpson,

Stewart Stony

Mojave Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, 54,000

California

Sonoran Arizona, California, Mexico 120,000

Chihuahuan Mexico, Southwestern U.S. 175,000

Thar India, Pakistan 175,000

Namib Angola, Namibia, S. Africa 13,000

Atacama Chile 54,000

Great Basin Nevada, Oregon, Utah 190,000

Colorado Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, 130,000

Plateau Utah, Wyoming

Patagonian Argentina 260,000

Kara-Kum Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan 115,000

Kyzyl-Kum Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, 115,000

Kazahkstan

Iranian Iran 100,000

Taklamakan China 105,000

Gobi China, Mongolia 500,000

Total 7,402,000