is it just me?

Please rest assured that I'm not going 'all political' on y'all. This is just more of the typical long-winded rambling that you've come to expect here at the Central Air blog.

Here is an image that was published in this month's Angie's List magazine, which focused on issues related to water conservation and water shortages. I am an avid recycler, composter, make-my-own-cleaning-products-er, and all-around nature-loving chick. As a sailor, an inhabitant of Planet Earth, and an avid hydrater, I have a high degree of fondness for the water. As a matter of fact, I'm planning to build a rain barrel (aka 'mosquito hatchery?') this summer so that I can make use of rain water to water my lawn and garden. (Uh oh... I smell a goal in the works here. Sigh. It's like a disease or something.)

Anyway, now that I've shared my 'tree-hugger resumé,' I've gotta tell you that when I read the text on the chart, I examined the graphic for several minutes trying to figure out what's wrong with this picture? I definitely recognized that the decrease in Lake Superior's water level just after the turn of the century is disturbing indeed, but the increase of recent years appears to be just as dramatic as the decrease was.

So I thought, A-ha! The point of this chart must be that the average water levels have decreased over time. Now that would be pretty alarming. I looked very carefully at the average over time and saw that - nope - Lake Superior's average water level over the past 150 years has remained unchanged.

So I guess the moral of my story is that... oh, I don't know... Call me lucid but I think that maybe it is kind of awkward to supplement a somewhat alarmist piece with a graphic that is not all that alarming.