Rubric Layout Created on https://www.rcampus.com/rubricshellc.cfm

The purpose of data visualization is to cater a quick easy way to display information to the audience. Because of the way the human brain processes information, using charts or graphs to visualize large amounts of complex data is easier than poring over spreadsheets or reports.

Hence, it is very important that we create visualization which conveys the message to the audience in an easier way and leaves great impression. The rubric criteria has been selected keeping three important points in mind and below are those:

• Purpose of the chart
• Type of chart
• General Audience

It is very important that a graph/chart shown to audience gives clarity without any additional explanation. Also, audience using the graph should have a great impression of the graph because at the end, audience is the one who is consuming the graph so they should be satisfied with the graph look and feel.

Truthfulness of a graph is a substantial criteria in evaluating any graph. However, I have taken 5 charts from internet and as I am unable to verify the source of data using which these graphs are created, I am unable to consider the criteria of truthfulness of a graph in my evaluation framework. Hence, I am assuming these graphs are functional and the data used to create this graph is correct.

• Observe each graph and explain how it is working
• Assess the graphs and score each graph based on the rubric criteria
• Suggest Improvements(If any)

This graph indicates that in the time period from 1900 to 2000, the earth's temperature (Y axis) has changed due to human activities which increases green house gases emissions. The observed values are being replicated when human factors are conidered. By including only the natural factors like volcanic eruptions, the observed results were not being reproduced. However, adding the human factors did impact the climate change to a great extent as shown in the graph below

Graph Reference: https://www.wri.org/blog/2017/04/climate-science-explained-10-graphics

• Clarity - 4

  • The idea is clear that there is a global temperature change due to human activities and it is increasing per year with human activities
  • Graphs and visuals are relevant as they shows the trend of temperature change over the years

• Design and Creativity - 5

  • The layout is consistent
  • Fonts are legible and consistent

• Audience First Impression - 4

  • I like this graph as it is simple and easy to understand

• The chart can be changed to make it interactive with users. For example, if user want to see trend for 1900 to 2000 and 2000 to 2010 etc. Inshort more flexibility in terms of selecting the time period to give more granularity
• Exact Human Factors such as Co2 emission etc can be included to make this graph more insightful

This graph shows the percentage contribution to global warming over the past 50-65 years in two categories, human causes (left) and natural causes (right), from various peer-reviewed studies (colors). The studies used a wide range of independent methods, and provide multiple lines of evidence that humans are by far the dominant cause of recent global warming. Most studies showed that recent natural contributions have been in the cooling direction, thereby masking part of the human contribution and in some cases causing it to exceed 100% of the total warming.

The studies color coded on right side of graph are Tett et al. 2000 (T00, dark blue), Meehl et al. 2004 (M04, red), Stone et al. 2007 (S07, green), Lean and Rind 2008 (LR08, purple), Huber and Knutti 2011 (HK11, light blue), Gillett et al. 2012 (G12, orange), Wigley and Santer 2012 (WG12, dark green), Jones et al. 2013 (J13, pink), IPCC AR5 (IPCC, light green), and Ribes et al. 2016 (R16, light purple).

Graph Reference: https://skepticalscience.com/graphics.php?g=57

• Clarity - 3

  • The idea is clear that humans are the greatest contributor to the global warming versus natural factors. However, the exact human activities causing the global warming are missing
  • The color codes on the right side of the graphs are not easy to understand from the graph itself. They needs to be specified explicitly with their meanings
  • From the graph, it is not clear that which span of 50-65 years has been taken into consideration

• Design and Creativity - 3

  • The layout could be improved
  • Color code is confusing from graph

• Audience First Impression - 3

  • Good, but need some improvement

• Exact Human Factors such as Co2 emission etc can be included to make this graph more insightful
• The color codes of different studies should also include the name of the studies to make it more clear to the audience
• Exact span(start year to end year e.g 2009 to 2010) should be mentioned in the graph and trend of human & natural factors contribution to the global warming can be shown

This graph can visually catch audience attention to a great extent . It shows global temperature change from (1850-2017) for each month in the animated spiral form. From the graph, it is observed that the global temperature change (0 - 1.5) has increased from around 1995 and rapidly increasing thereafter till 2017

Graph Reference: http://www.climate-lab-book.ac.uk/spirals/

• Clarity - 4

  • The graph shows that there is a climate change. However, the reasons for climate change are missing

• Design and Creativity - 5

  • Eye catching
  • Creative

• Audience First Impression - 5

  • Impressive! This looks great and interesting!

• Factors causing the climate change can be included to make a stronger argument

This graph is very informative which shows a measure called "radiative forcing” or heating effect caused by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This figure shows the total amount of radiative forcing caused by human activities—including indirect effects—between 1750 and 2011. Radiative forcing is calculated in watts per square meter, which represents the size of the energy imbalance in the atmosphere causing the climate change. Each colored bar represents scientists’ best estimate, while the thin black bars indicate the likely range of possibilities.

The human activities are causing global warming and it is predicted to increase global warming given the causes of global warming are not prevented.

Graph Reference: https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-climate-forcing

• Clarity - 5

  • The idea is very clear that human and natural factors are responsible for the engergy/climate change. Also,it shows the exact human and natural activities causing the global warming
  • The graph is insightful, actionable and impactful
  • It also shows prediction of the global warming due to human & natural activities. This makes a strong argument to the audience mind that if we do not take actions to reduce human activites then global warming is predicted to increase in future causing serious damage to our planet

• Design and Creativity - 5

  • The layout is organized
  • The colors goes with the content where warming is shown in red color and cooling in blue color (general representation of these phenomena.

• Audience First Impression - 5

  • Impressive! This looks great and interesting!

• While this graph is impressive, impactful and actionable, it can be confusing for audience not familiar with the scientific terminology like Radiative Forcing.
• Hence, it is very important to understand your audience, their purpose to use the chart and how frequently they use these charts

This graph shows that the climate change has increased from 1750 to 2000 due to factors like Greenhouse gases, Aerosol,Land use,volcanoes etc.

Graph Reference: https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-why-scientists-think-100-of-global-warming-is-due-to-humans

• Clarity - 5

  • The idea is very clear that human and natural factors are responsible for the climate change
  • The graph is easy to understand

• Design and Creativity - 4

  • The layout is organized

• Audience First Impression - 4

  • I like it

This project gives a hands on experiecence on how to critique a visualization and how data can be used to tell a story using different types of visualization. Designing graph or charts can be done in various ways. However, it totally depends on the end user's purpose of using the graph.Visualization 4 is an example of such a scenario where some specific details about human factors is needed and such graphs may not be easy to understand for general audience but helpful for users with that background knowledge. Visulaization 3 is a perfect example of how to design eye catching graphs. Visualization 1 & 2 are examples of simple graphs which can be understood by general audience. Visualization 5 is more granular version of Visualization 1&2 where human factors are breakdown further.

Overall, a great learning experience to study each visualization and think about what improvements can be made to make it more useful

This graph is replicated using Tableau