The Namib Desert from space

The Namib Desert from space Today’s Image of the Day from the European Space Agency features the Namib Desert on the coast of southern Africa.

Namib is the oldest desert on the planet, dating back between 55 and 80 million years, 

The region is home to fascinating, desert-adapted wildlife, such as spotted hyenas and baboons, as well as some of the highest dunes in the world.

The Namib is a coastal desert in southern Africa. The name Namib is of Khoekhoegowab origin and means “vast place”. According to the broadest definition, the Namib stretches for more than 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) along the Atlantic coasts of Angola, Namibia, and South Africa, extending southward from the Carunjamba River in Angola, through Namibia and to the Olifants River in Western Cape, South Africa. The Namib’s northernmost portion, which extends 450 kilometres (280 mi) from the Angola-Namibia border, is known as Moçâmedes Desert, while its southern portion approaches the neighboring Kalahari Desert. From the Atlantic coast eastward, the Namib gradually ascends in elevation, reaching up to 200 kilometres (120 mi) inland to the foot of the Great Escarpment. Annual precipitation ranges from 2 millimetres (0.079 in) in the most arid regions to 200 millimetres (7.9 in) at the escarpment,

—

By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer

Image Credit: ESA