I grew up in Southern Arizona, the center of the Sonoran Desert. For people not used to the heat down there, it can be overwhelming. A really cool website, called DesertUSA.com, has an article by Felice Prage about “Surviving in the Sonoran Desert“.
The article contains loads of good information from sun protection and safe desert travel to special survival gear for deserts. I really liked it!
I have a page on Hot Climates over at AdventureDoc.org