He cited the Alhambra Palace as a "machine for dealing with the hot desert climate of southern Spain".

BBC: NEWS | South Asia | Architects urged to copy India

The president of Turkmenistan, which has a hot desert climate, has ordered his government ministries to create their own ice hockey teams.

BBC: Leader demands ice hockey for desert state Turkmenistan

But while its geography and population limit its overall carbon footprint, the emirate is still remarkably inefficient at using natural resources, thanks largely to its desert climate and oil-fueled wealth.

FORBES: Qatar: An Odd Place For Climate Talks?

Along with fighting the harsh climate of the endless desert, they have also been battling for their independence in the last 20 years, staging rebellions against the governments in Niger and Mali.

CNN: Omara 'Bombino' Moctar: Guitar hero of the desert

The researchers say the toolmakers at Jebel Faya may have reached the Arabian Peninsula at a time when changes in the climate were transforming it from arid desert into a grassland habitat with lakes and rivers.

BBC: Humans 'left Africa much earlier'

Just as Mars -- a desert planet -- gives us insights into global climate change on Earth, the promise awaits for bringing back to life portions of the Red Planet through the application of Earth Science to its similar chemistry, possibly reawakening its life-bearing potential.

CNN: Commentary: Let's aim for Mars

The Mediterranean coastal fringes have a Mediterranean climate with some rain between October and March, but the vast area of desert inland has very little rain at all and here some of the highest temperatures in the world have been recorded.

BBC: Libya

And on the other hand, some of the books about early settlers and ranchers, especially in the desert out here, do indicate that over the last 200 years there's been an increasingly dry climate change.

NPR: Can Climate Change Explain Odd Weather?