How do people adapt to living in hot desert climates?

Question

How do people adapt to living in extremely hot places such as africa?

How long does it take?

Is it something that people have to slowly adapt to through generations of people?

How do plants adapt to living in hot desert climates?

Answer 1

One adaption for people who like in hot desert climates is the colour of their skin. Darker skin will absorb more UV rays, instead of letting them penertrate the skin and damage the inside of your body (ever wondered why people with lighter skin burn, whereas people with darker skin tan?)

Plants also have many adaptions to hot desert climates. Cacti are one of the best adapted plants. They have deep roots to draw water from deep inside the ground, but also have roots near the surface to collect dew in the mornings. They have a thick waxy cuticle that prevents water loss through transpiration. Another way to prevent water loss through transpiration is to have spines instead of leaves (less surface area, so less space to lose water). The spikes surface area compared to their size is about 1000 times smaller than normal plants. A cactus also stores water in it's thick stem, therefore it's a succulent.