Colorado Desert
Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert located in California, United States and Baja California, Mexico. It encompasses approximately 7 million acres (2,800,000 ha; 28,000 km2), including the heavily irrigated Coachella, Imperial and Mexicali valleys. It is home to many unique flora and fauna.
This article is about the desert in California. For the deserts upon the Colorado plateau in general, see Colorado Plateau.Climate[edit]
The Colorado Desert's climate distinguishes it from other deserts. The region experiences greater summer daytime temperatures than higher-elevation deserts and almost never experiences frost. In addition, the Colorado Desert experiences two rainy seasons per year (in the winter and late summer), especially toward the southern portion of the region; the more northerly Mojave Desert usually has only winter rains.[4][5]
The west coast Peninsular Ranges, or other west ranges, of Southern California–northern Baja California, block most eastern Pacific coastal air and rains, producing an arid climate.[4] Other short or longer-term weather events can move in from the Gulf of California to the south, and are often active in the summer monsoons. These include remnants of Pacific hurricanes, storms from the southern tropical jetstream, and the northern intertropical convergence zone.
Environmental issues[edit]
The Colorado Desert is one of the least-populous regions in California, but human activities have had substantial impacts on the region's habitats and wildlife. Many unique communities, particularly aquatic and dune systems, are limited in distribution and separated by vast expanses of inhospitable, arid desert terrain. Even limited human disturbances can have markedly deleterious effects on the endemic and sensitive species supported by these unique regional systems.[4]
Some of the greatest human-caused effects on the region have resulted from the water diversions and flood control measures along the Colorado River. These measures have dramatically altered the region's hydrology by redistributing the region's water supply to large expanses of irrigated agriculture and metropolitan coastal areas such as Los Angeles and San Diego. The once-dynamic Salton Sea and Colorado River ecosystems are now controlled by human water management. Because of the scarcity of water resources in the desert environment, these alterations have had substantial impacts on regional wildlife and habitats. In addition, portions of the region are experiencing substantial growth and development pressures, most notably the Coachella Valley.[4]