BSU and Circle of Blue : crisis in the Great Lakes

Abstract

The Great Lakes hold approximately 20 percent of the world's freshwater. Climate change is threatening this region in many ways, through decreasing water levels, increasing water temperature, and by allowing invasive species to take over. During Spring 2011, Ball State University journalism graphics students collaborated with Circle of Blue to create interactive information graphics about some of these topics. Circle of Blue is a non-profit news organization that covers global water issues. This honors thesis is a continuation of that project. After sketching, researching, illustrating and making several graphics interactive for the web, I created two interactive information graphics that will be published on Circle of Blue's website [www.circleofblue.orglwaternews]. One graphic introduces climate change as a problem in the Great Lakes. The second specifically focuses on how climate change has affected lake levels in this region.