Why is the typical desert climate hot and dry?

Answer 1

A typical desert is dry but not necessarily hot. There are cold deserts (Antarctica), there are cold winter deserts and there are cool coastal deserts. The only thing they have in common is that all receive less than 10 inches (250 mm) of precipitation per year on average. Temperature does not define a desert. The lack of humidity and cloud cover in a desert allows more sunlight to penetrate the atmosphere and heat the land below in those deserts with a hot climate.