WASHINGTON â The Great Lakes are changing along with the climate, and the U.S. and Canadian governments need to work together to minimize the damage that could result. That was the key message delivered Thursday by the international body charged with managing the waterways shared by the two countries. The International Joint Commission put addressing climate change first and foremost in a progress report on Great Lakes water quality. And in a virtual news conference addressing the issue, the commission's leaders, staffers and allies noted that climate change is the issue they hear about most from the public â because it is affecting the Great Lakes basin from one end to the other.