section_path: Global climatology/Polar deserts
section_name: Polar deserts
paragraph_text: Polar deserts
  
  Since rain only falls as liquid, it rarely falls when surface temperatures are below freezing, unless there is a layer of warm air aloft, in which case it becomes freezing rain. Due to the entire atmosphere being below freezing most of the time, very cold climates see very little rainfall and are often known as polar deserts. A common biome in this area is the tundra which has a short summer thaw and a long frozen winter. Ice caps see no rain at all, making Antarctica the world's driest continent.