A jury on Thursday awarded $1 million to climate scientist Michael Mann, who sued a pair of conservative writers 12 years ago after they compared his depictions of global warming to a convicted child molester.

Mann, a professor of climate science at the University of Pennsylvania, rose to fame for a graph first published in 1998 in the journal Nature that was dubbed the “hockey stick” for its dramatic illustration of a warming planet.

The work brought Mann wide exposure but also many skeptics, including the two writers Mann took to court for comments that he said affected his career and reputation in the U.S. and internationally.

“It feels great,” Mann said Thursday after the six-person jury delivered its verdict. “It’s a good day for us, it’s a good day for science.”

  • stoly@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    This is apparently what started many people realizing that he is actually an idiot and not a genius.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      It certainly was for me. I was always a bit skeptical of him as I am of all cults of personality, but I didn’t realize he was also stupid until then.