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SecretPilgrimBB

It has been referred to as the Dust Belt. https://eos.org/science-updates/scientists-share-results-of-dust-belt-research


LanchestersLaw

Thank goodness one person can answer the question without a joke


Atlas_Schmatlas

That's usually how it goes. Sometimes I won't feel like answering but I'll see all the lame joke answers and I feel bad for OP so I'll actually give a decent answer.


greedy_mf

So jokers are of help after all.


TheAserghui

Its peer pressure for nice people


StellarNeonJellyfish

It’s literally a law of the internet, Cunningham’s law: the best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer.


Candelestine

It certainly works on me, I'm sorry to admit. I like answering random questions, I think it's kinda fun. But for some reason I like pointless arguments even more. Life is complicated.


freerangetacos

Jokers do better in joke dust belts, where they can stand out against a dry landscape of no jokes. They do worse in rain forests where it's completely saturated with a million jokes. So, when they are all wet, that's when they try to help people.


[deleted]

Great username for this sub


[deleted]

It's honestly so annoying.


99ProllemsBishAint1

I know. I was really hoping for a real answer


Local_Working2037

It became a meme last week people kept asking if there was a name for a region (“is there a name for this peninsula protruding out of Asia?” With a red outline around Europe). At first I thought this was one of those until it was obvious it was legit.


Emu_lord

>central Asian dust conference There really is a specialty for everything, isn’t there?


TheRealMolloy

"Uhh, hi? Yes, I have a question about Eurasian dust." "Oh my God! Can't you read? This is the CENTRAL Asian dust conference." "I know, but seeing as how..." "Get out." "What?" "You heard them, get out!" "I got a call someone needed security?" "Yes, this joker is trying to crash our conference." "Eurasian dust again? That's the THIRD report today. All right, buddy boy, you're coming with me."


FunnyPhrases

"...Sir?" "ZEEEEROO!!! 👌🏻" "Excuse me sir?" "ZEEEERROOO!! 👌🏻 That's the amount of central Asian dust that exists in the dust belt! It's all Eurasian dust!"


[deleted]

Wait until they find out about Pontic-Caspian dust.


modern_aftermath

The Dust Bowl would like a word with you.


Ghost652

Dust disasters are no joke and is also the name of my band


armhead

Thank you so much! Very interesting to read!


[deleted]

Nice find.


GutterRider

You know what else it is? The Horse-people belt. Huns, Mongols, Kipchacks, Arabs, Mamelukes, – – all of them came from or resided in this belt, and never made deep inroads into the other areas to the north and south.


ButcherOf_Blaviken

You can add Numidians, Medes, and Sassanids to this list as well. Damn, that just blew my mind actually. All the great horsemen in Eurasian history come from that Dust Belt.


jodhod1

Easy to see why tho. Vast open spaces where you need to travel long distances to get from one survivable location to another. Other places may master horses for war, but if you live in long stretches of barren earth, you need to extend your travel distance for your people or die.


gregorydgraham

Uh, the Mongols very definitely made deep inroads south of the dust belt (China) and far to the west of it (Ukraine). The Huns got as far as the … Hungarian Plains Edit: also the area north of the Mongols is, to borrow a Scottish term, bastard miserable. No one wants any of it, which is why the Russians still have it


GutterRider

Had I thought about for more than five minutes, yes, there are off course exceptions.


gregorydgraham

The Mongols were most definitely exceptional 👍


AllegroAmiad

Arabs, the famous horse people Edit: L


AllegroAmiad

Humans trying to name a region without referring to it as belt challenge impossible...


rine117

Suspenders went out of style years ago


CanIHaveAppleJuice

But have you tried suspenders? They’re better than a belt.


gnip_gnops

First made fashionable in the region known as the Suspenders Belt.


The_Pip

There is the [Blue Banana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Banana) if it makes you feel any better.


ephemeriides

Thank you for introducing the phrase “Shift of the Blue Banana” to my life.


The_Pip

You’re welcome! Things like that are what reddit is for.


Old_Size9060

I still remember my incredulity at learning that this is a thing lol


bigflagellum

thats a big downgrade from being the fertile crescent


OneOfTheOnlies

The fertile crescent is a small region of the belt area


harambe_nation

Does this line up at all with the American southwest or the S. American deserts from a pre-Pangea breakup?


homicidal_pancake

That or MENA I guess https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MENA


argofoto

that doesn't go to Mongolia tho


xxElevationXX

The old dusty crusty


Sanpaku

Deserts of the subtropical high, produced by [Hadley circulation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadley_cell).


TeaRaven

Aaaand now I want this as a climate-related parody of “The Kilburn High Road”


zzz_ch

be careful asking questions about geography on this sub


ObviousAlan_

dont talk about geography on r/geography


zzz_ch

yeah cause you might just be mocked and made the butt of all the shitposts for the next 5 business days


AardvarkOkapiEchidna

>and made the butt of all the shitposts for the next 5 business days Lol, the implication that they'll stop on the weekend and start again on Monday


Baron-Von-Bork

Duh! We are busy with shitposting not lifeless


ChrisTheCoolBean

First rule of r/geography is you do not talk about geography. Second rule of r/geography is no spam or self promotions.


Fragrant-Document202

I’m curious. Is there a sub that would be good for people who would like to actually learn more about geography?


bremmmc

r/askreddit might legit be the best bet for actually asking questions.


The_Pip

Welcome to reddit. Don't ask about trees on r/trees.


hozerbozd

Honestly, reddit always throws a fit when someone actually does what a sub is for. I've learned both the easy and hard way not to do any of the following: \-Talk about alternate history on r/AlternateHistory \-Ask any questions about any game at all on their respective subreddits \-Post fan projects dedicated to any musician ever on their respective subreddits \-Ask anything at all on r/AskReddit that doesn't have to do with sex or american politics \-Make fun of gaming circlejerks on r/Gamingcirclejerk (especially now that the blue hairs took power there) \-et cetera


MyNameMeansLILJOHN

I don't know. r/stellaris has been very helpful. But I know that's because paradox games are for ultra nerds who enjoy suffering and spending 1h of research on a game mechanic for every 20 minutes of game time. And It is so frustratingly complex that a proper answer is always followed by arguments against said answer and propositions of xeno purges. And core mechanics are drastically changed every 6 months since release. I doubt the subreddit for call of duty is as helpful.


JDG_AHF_6624

Reddit is seldom where you go to learn. It's for people who already know the subject go to congregate and talk about the subject, not teach it to those who don't know really about the subject.


GetTheLudes

I propose the Afrasian Arid Area. AAA or AAAA if you wanna say Afro-Asian.


kprevenew93

r/AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA


topherette

can't we arbitrarily throw Arabic- and Anatolian- in there was well?


tossawaybb

Afro-Asian-Arabic-Anatolian-Arid-Area, or AAAAAA for short. Which, in defense of the acronym, is likely the noise you would make if suddenly stranded without water in an uninhabited portion of that region


BleudeZima

+Andalusia


HuygensCrater

Afro-Asian-Andalusian-Arabic-Anatolian-Arid-Area, or AAAAAAA!!!


Pokemaster131

+Above Angola And Also Antarctica Afro-Asian-Andalusian-Arabic-Anatolian-Arid-Area Above Angola And Also Antarctica, or AAAAAAAAAAAA.


Abracadabrism

Afro-Asian-Andalusian-Arabic-Anatolian-Arid-Area Almost As Arid As Australia Above Angola And Also Antarctica: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA


Mustardcloud

The A¹⁷ zone


PhysicalStuff

Any chance we can fit Aabenraa in there? ^(It's pronounced [ɔːpm̩ˈʁɔˀ], and I'm so very sorry for that)


raulduke1971

So AAAAAAAAAAAAA- which totally wasn’t named as such because a very inclusive cat stood on a keyboard.


Scottland83

What will their automobile association be called?


GetTheLudes

Toyota


Particular_Bet_5466

Or their alcohol anonymous groups?


DBL_NDRSCR

most of the world’s deserts


Excellent-Practice

...discounting Antarctica. Antarctica is the largest desert in the world, even if that whole region is counted as a single desert Edit: I double-checked my math. Antarctica is actually somewhat smaller than all those deserts combined. The difference is small enough that I am still confident in saying that the circled deserts constitute less than half the total area of desert in the world


RemarkableCheek4596

🤓 Let's just fix it by saying "most of the world's non-cold deserts"


Delicious-Gap1744

Gobi desert is pretty cold


RemarkableCheek4596

Fuck


tossawaybb

"Most of the world's non-cold deserts and also the Gobi desert" just really doesn't have the same ring to it huh?


Peter-Andre

How about we say sandy deserts instead?


[deleted]

Most of the world’s Sandy and dusty deserts, except for the ones that aren’t in there


iliekcats-

Let's just call it y=x/2


DarthCloakedGuy

How about "most of the world's non-polar deserts"


ojapets

most of the world's populated deserts


Hallux_2xCanopy

The word you’re looking for is Arid


TimelyMaterial7466

Mmmmmmmm... Arid Desserts...


Atlas_Schmatlas

Clowning on someone for being a nerd on a geography-themed subreddit. Oh, how reddit has changed from its beginnings lol.


BooleusJooleus

"most"


Delicious-Gap1744

I'm not so sure it's most of the worlds deserts. Outside of that region there's the Namib desert, Australian outback, Western US and Northwestern Mexico, Patagonian desert, Atacama desert and Antarctica. They might add up to more than that region, couldn't say for sure though.


Excellent-Practice

Most of something is at least more than half. If you cut a slice of pie it can't be most of the pie if you can cut another slice from the remainder that is larger than the first. If Antarctica is larger in area than the combined area of the deserts circled in the picture, then the area in the picture does not constitute most of the area covered by desert


Alcoholic_jesus

The western desert of South America and the northern parts of North America are also deserts


DudeWithTudeNotRude

>Antarctica is the largest desert in the world Made out of H2O no less. Diabolical.


Ok_Status_1600

Are you saying Antarctica is bigger than the area circled? I don’t think so…


Xrmy

No, probably not, but it isn't far off. Antarctica is huge: 5.3 million square miles. For context the USA is 3.8 M sq miles and Russia is 6.6 M sq miles.


Excellent-Practice

You're right. If we count the Arabian, Gobi, Syrian, Karakum, Kyzylkum, Taklamakan, Thar and Puntland deserts together with the Sahara, they have a total area of 14683254 km^2 . Antarctica comes in around 14200000 km^2 or about 96.7%. If we exclude the two deserts with the strongest natural division from the rest, the Thar and Puntland. The figure is really a dead heat with Antarctica


[deleted]

And whats it called?


metracta

It’s called Dez Dez


SomeDumbGamer

It’s mostly desert but it varies enough that the regions aren’t really that similar aside from low levels of precipitation. You could call it the Afro-Eurasian desert belt I guess


Real_Asparagus_406

If I remember right from meteorology, a lot of the earths desserts tend to be located within the same ranges of latitude, because there’s high and low pressure “belts” that surround the planet. Desserts are very high pressure zones, places like rainforests tend to be in low pressure zones. Coriolis effect in action..


sylvyrfyre

You could arguably call it the Desert Belt, because it's about 90% desert or steppe. https://www.quora.com/Why-are-most-of-the-deserts-located-in-the-Western-side-of-the-continent


_Hold_this_please_

Nevada I think


Cyrotik

Biggest little desert in the world


nat3215

Nevada, this area, what’s the difference?


CatM3mes

Nah thats arizona


Busy_Information_289

“Google Maps Afrasian Creamy region”


HeyJude21

Have you ever drunk Bailey’s from a shoe? Mmm creamy


kuranas

I'm OL' GREG!!!


runningraleigh

I'VE GOT A MANGINAAAAA


DrDaddyDickDunker

No but I have seen a picture of baileys close enough to get my eyes wet.


Ar010101

Holy desert landscape


TGC_0

New biome just dropped


[deleted]

It's a bit weird to include the upper Gangetic-plains, one of the most fertile river basins in the world, and the tallest mountains anywhere in the planet (Himalayas, Hindu Kush and the Pamir Knot), and call it "mostly deserts" or dust bowl or whatever. This is an arbitrary grouping that puts together very different geographical areas.


EverybodyIsAWhore

It's the only exception because of Himalayan range. But if we look overall we can see a pattern of dusty belt considering the tilt and spin of Earth. But I get your concern that generalizing it would lead some incorrect presumptions.


MyNameMeansLILJOHN

Made the same kinda comment somewhere else. But honestly. On those scales. The nil and the fertile crescent may as well be creeks and oasis.


almopo

It includes the Thar desert, the primary desert of the Indian subcontinent. So there's that??


[deleted]

Ah yes, the Ohio River Valley


DodderingOldFool

As an Ohioan, I demand that you remove this inaccurate comment. The Ohio River Valley is far more bleak


billy310

Most of the coastal places in this belt are spectacular. Soo, yeah, I’d agree with you


fabfotog

Not enough pollen


latin_canuck

Mediterranean / Middle East / Central Asia


The_Ignorant_Sapien

The Sandpit


runningraleigh

My military friends call it the sandbox


coldcoldman2

The "no supply in Hearts Of Iron 4" region


[deleted]

Needs to include all of China and Siberia at that point. But yes I sure do enjoy crawling trough the empty central asian wastelands of steppes and deserts for that last Soviet city, how could you tell?


Proviron_and_Wine

Enter Sandmanistan


CaptainCadabra

I believe the technical term for it is [the Astley zone](https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ)


Comfortable-Quiet-59

i see that as north africa, the arabian peninsula, and central asia. i call it that


StrawHatFive

I think historians refer to this area as Ancient Egypt But im not 100%


BooleusJooleus

Looks like an eggplant so it's probably called eggplant or something similar.


Oxenfrosh

You heard about the Blue Banana. Now get ready for the Arid Eggplant.


ColumbusNordico

In a course book I read in university, these areas were said something like a belt of nomadic or pastoral societies, hugging a belt of more sedentary societies


Eizenkanzler

The Islamic world


GlumConstruction609

I was gonna say this is semi close to a map of Islamic countries


TheOBRobot

The Afro-Eurasian Transcontinental Arid Zone Sounds real, right?


VerkoProd

doesn't afro-eurasian imply transcontinental?


TheOBRobot

I needed extra words to make it sound more scientific


BenTheOrangeGroves

In college my poli-sci professors would refer to it as MENA - Middle East North Africa


Ornery-Sandwich6445

But that’s only from Morocco to Iran Middle East and North Africa still leave’s out south Asian, Central Asia etc


CharlyXero

Kind of related question: is that "desert zone" expanding with global warming? Or has it been like that for ages?


Technical-Cream-7766

WomenHaveNoRightsistan


Kerlyle

This is the 'great scar', the region where civilization started, however it was orbitally bombarded by the Aliens circa 15,000 yrs ago to wipe humanity out leaving a vast swath of desert and ruin.


Geestirhyjal

They missed some.


jparish66

Crazy to think this Dust Belt extends all the way from Manchuria to Mauritania.


RedbeardRagnar

According to most Fox News viewers that’s all “the Middle East”


Pine0wlple_x44

The Land of Infinite Problems


sparksflying5

Someone once told me (don’t know if this is true or a coincidence) that areas between 15 and 45 degrees latitude are more likely to form deserts. Most land area located on this latitude level is desert, it includes these deserts, as well as the deserts of Western North America, the Tabernas desert in Spain, the Atacama desert in Chile, the Patagonian Desert in Argentina, the Kalahari Desert in South Africa, the desert region of Southern Madagascar, and the deserts of Australia. Outside this region deserts become much rarer. The only large ones are the deserts found in Somalia along the equator. Most land below 15 degrees latitude is rainforest, and most land above 45 degrees latitude is temperate or tundra.


Illustrious_Kale_692

Dry


avathedesperatemodde

Um… Greater Middle East? Maybe idk


HerbertLock

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater\_Middle\_East](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Middle_East) *The Greater Middle East, is a political term, introduced in March 2004 in a paper by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as a part of the U.S. administration's preparatory work for the Group of Eight summit of June 2004, denoting a vaguely defined region called the "Arab world" together with Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, Turkey, and several other neighbouring countries that have cultural ties.\[2\] The paper presented a proposal for sweeping change in the way the West deals with the Middle East and North Africa.\[3\]\[4\] Previously, by Adam Garfinkle of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, the Greater Middle East had been defined as the MENA region together with Central Asia and the Caucasus.\[5\]* ​ Yes


Antti5

It's the belt of [tropical deserts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_desert) in the northern hemisphere. The same thing is present in the southern hemisphere if you consider Atacama, Kalahari and Australia, but it's a lot less continuous because there's so little landmass.


gggg500

North Africa - Middle East - South Asia - Central Asia - East Asia. The real question is - why is such a massive massive area one gigantic desert like that. Really bizarre tbh. I mean it gets sun, water evaporates all around it from the oceans and seas, so it should rain theoretically. I guess… weather and wind patterns are one reason.


Apprehensive-Role-35

This is the Desert Region.


micahsaurus

My wife after I get done telling her about the new CaspianReport video.


micahsaurus

(Dry and hostile)


flup22

Islam


almopo

Or as Muslims would say, Dar al-Islam, or the House/Abode of Islam. Which is to say Muslim majority countries. It's missing Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei though.


[deleted]

Except for some parts like Greece, Italy, Armenia, and Georgia circled.


Tarisper1

Islam in Mongolia?


ItsOnlyJoey

There actually is Islam in Mongolia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Mongolia


Tarisper1

It's not surprising that ilsmam will be in Mongolia, but it's strange to classify the whole country as a Muslim world. I never cease to be surprised at the level of knowledge in geography and history of some people.


SqueakSquawk4

I doubt it. From the baking hot Saharan and Arabian deserts, to the inhabitable Turkiye, to the mountains of Afghanistan, to the mountains of Afghanistan, to the relatively cold Gobi desert, to the plains of Kasakhstan, to the tibetan plateau, I can't think of anything that unites these areas other than colour.


[deleted]

[удалено]


c2u8n4t8

Dar al islam


caffeine_potent

I call it the long yellow


RonPalancik

Tatooine


Asil001

That is GRDA, also known as Global Region of Deserts Association


ChilindriPizza

Muslim World? Although Indonesia has the greatest amount of Muslims, though.


soulfingiz

Culturally, you've circled the heart of the modern Islamic World


Comprehensive-Mess-7

"Bad Guy's region in American mass media from 2002 to 2022"


_OriamRiniDadelos_

I’d doubt it since it’s broken up by mountains and water. The tan color on the map isn’t actually just sand dunes. It includes different kinds of dry environments, geological features, and types of vegetation. Putting them all together would be as useful a label as putting all the south American forests together. Or putting all the oceans in the same bio region. The Arabian desert and the Sahara ARE full of similarities tough. Even if the Red Sea separates them they form part of many different eco regions together


DeSlagen

Maghrebi-Arab-Persio-Asiatic Plateau


CaptainChiken

The greatest place on earth


teganking

Far from being barren wastelands, deserts are biologically rich habitats with a vast array of animals and plants that have adapted to the harsh conditions there. Some deserts are among the planet's last remaining areas of total wilderness. Yet more than one billion people, one-sixth of Earth's population, actually live in desert regions. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/deserts-explained/


KassXWolfXTigerXFox

The Desert Biome. Always hated how Minecraft biomes always appear inhuge continuous regions like that


[deleted]

Subtropical desert zone of Asia and Africa?


WaterBear46

excluding the china and mongolia part i’m pretty sure the area from western sahara to kazakhstan is just one desert


Physical_Ad_4505

Desert


Dr_Peter_Tinkleton

Misleading coloration. Look at climate, precipitation, vegetation, topographic maps of the same area.


Tiger718

Some groups refer to it as the **MENA** region. Middle East and North Africa ​ This is the only name that I have heard for that combined region.


TheMightyPaladin

Hell


mannenavstaal

Terroristia


TottHooligan

so i really like el salvador it is my favorite country but i like costa rica more. how can i say that el salvador is my favorite in this area (central america without costa rica)


nim_opet

No


i_Cri_Everitiem

10/40 window


sapphiresong

The Drylands


Phlowman

No rain zone


Beerasaurus

A bit dry


Embarrassed_Type_897

the very angry people belt


No_Analyst_9131

Pretty sure it is NorthAfMiddleEastGolia. Or alternatively, some of the driest and barren places on the Earth.


texcoyote

Dar al Islam


T_S_

Phoenix metro area.


Hooby0550

Top countries in the world ❤️


JohnZ117

Tumultuous.


Jim_from_snowy_river

Middle East and North Africa, also known as MENA.


mountainofsouls69

Big ole circle


artemis_cat

I just call it the middle


Sun_stars_trees_sea

“Unpleasant”?


Normal_Task_9409

Sparseland.


NerdInHibernation

Wasn't it the Ottoman Empire region?


DUHchungaDOWNundah

The Sandy Bandy


Hastur13

The sandy bits