Why is the Kalahari Desert dry?

Kalahari and Namib-Naukluft are in the zone of the southern westerlies. At this latitude the prevailing wind blows off the land out to sea. This has two effects, a lack of rain on land and the pushing out to sea of the surface layer of seawater. read more

Outside the Kalahari "desert", but in the Kalahari basin, a halophytic vegetation to the north is adapted to pans, lakes that are completely dry during the dry season, and maybe for years during droughts, such as in Etosha (Etosha Pan halophytics AT0902) and Makgadikgadi (Zambezian halophytics AT0908). read more

Soils in the Kalahari Desert are largely based on sand, are reddish in color, and are low in organic material. Chemically, they are relatively alkaline, and they are extremely dry. In and near the pans, the soils tend to be highly calcareous or saline, and frequently they are toxic to most vegetation. read more