Skip to main content

How one man kept global warming off the Hurricane Sandy Wikipedia page

How one man kept global warming off the Hurricane Sandy Wikipedia page

Share this story

Hurricane Sandy wikipedia
Hurricane Sandy wikipedia

With more than twice the number of edits than any other contributor, Ken Mampel has a reasonable case to call himself the principle Hurricane Sandy Wikipedia editor. However, problems can arise when a single man — particularly one that denies the existence of global warming — takes charge of such a large page. Mempel took it upon himself to delete any mention of global warming from the entry, and was successful in keeping the article global warming-free until the evening of November 1st. Popular Science profiles Mempel, revealing a man obsessed with accuracy, speed, and grammar, who unfortunately let his personal views obscure the impartial truth that Wikipedia is supposed to stand for. After much discussion between editors, a two line mention of global warming now resides in the Meteorological history section of the Hurricane Sandy page.