The Greatest Threat - part the fifth

Today's reporting shows another example of what Science and Smarts we'll likely lose on 20 Jan. It's a report on NOAA's efforts to map the ocean's degree of warming from climate change. It is a full page, "with 8-by-ten10 glossy photos with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back" story. Herewith the punch line:

A decade ago, sea surface temperatures in the Pacific shot up to 11 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than normal. A high pressure system parked over the ocean, and winds that churn cold, nutrient-rich water from the depths to the surface died down. Stagnant, warm water spread across the Northeast Pacific, in a marine heat wave that lasted for three years.

Under the surface, the food web broke down and ecosystems convulsed, at first unseen to humans on shore. But soon, clues washed up.

You can bet your sweet bippy that such a report will never again leave NOAA, if it even still exists.