Gobi Desert it is also located on a plateau roughly above sea level, which contributes to its low temperatures. An average of approximately of rain falls annually in the Gobi. Additional moisture reaches parts of the Gobi in winter as snow is blown by the wind from the Siberian Steppes. These winds may cause the Gobi to reach in winter to in summer. However, the climate of the Gobi is one of great extremes, combined with rapid changes of temperature of as much as . These can occur not only seasonally but within 24 hours. In southern Mongolia, the temperature has been
Gurbantünggüt Desert but now has mostly dried out, and the Ailik Lake (), which receives water from the Baiyang River (which in its turn is replenished by the Irtysh–Karamay Canal). China National Highway 216 crosses the desert in the north-south direction, from Altay City to Ürümqi. China National Highway 217 and the Kuytun–Beitun Railway skirt it from the west and northwest. The Ürümqi–Dzungaria Railway reaches into the desert's southeastern corner, known locally as "Jiangjun Gobi" (将军戈壁, "General's Desert"). The climate of the area is temperate, but very continental. The desert's ecological environment is very fragile, and the impact of human activities on