The following link shows a drought monitor which can be viewed at a national, regional or local level.

http://drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html

Western Regional Drought Monitor

http://drought.unl.edu/dm/DM_west.htm

Questions:

• Does this monitor provide effective perspective on the overall climate conditions in the United States?
• How does the definition of drought effect the visual representation shown?
• What other underlying assumptions should be used to provide graphical representation of the long term climate trends?
• How could animations and color be used to improve the understanding of water use in the Southern California region?