Climate-Change Denier Vets Wikipedia's Sandy Page

'I don't believe that climate change bullcrap,' he says
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 3, 2012 2:56 PM CDT
Why Climate Change Stayed Off Sandy's Wikipedia Page
Superstorm Sandy's path, as seen on Wikipedia.   (Wikimedia Commons)

Wikipedia's Superstorm Sandy page attracted more than 500,000 hits over three days, but most visitors saw no mention of global warming—because one of the most impassioned editors on the page is a climate-change denier, reports Popular Science. Ken Mampel, 56, an out-of-work media freelancer in Florida with no meteorological background, says he avidly edited the page out of personal interest. "But I don't believe that climate change bullcrap," he explains.

Mampel barely slept for days while he edited, twice removing mentions of climate change that were added by other editors. Ultimately Mampel lost the debate, and climate change received a small mention, but the struggle highlights the intense give-and-take that forges content on Wikipedia—especially during a breaking news story. "That's exactly it!" says Mampel, a little wired from lack of sleep. "Bam! Bam! Bam! That's what I strive for, to be as fast as major media. I wanted to be there, and I wanted to be accurate." (More global warming stories.)

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