The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines

WHAT: A free public lecture and book signing by Dr. Michael E. Mann, author of The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines, his latest book exploring the story of the science and politics behind what he calls the “climate wars.”

WHEN: Wed., Sept. 5, at 5 p.m. for the lecture, followed by book signing.

WHERE: Cook Campus Center, Multipurpose Room ABC, 59 Biel Road, New Brunswick, N.J.

WHO: Dr. Michael E. Mann is a member of the Penn State University faculty, holding joint positions in the departments of Meteorology and Geosciences, and the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute. Mann also directs the Penn State Earth System Science Center. His research involves the use of theoretical models and observational data to better understand the Earth's climate system.

BACKGROUND: In its 2001 report on global climate, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations prominently featured the “Hockey Stick,” a chart showing global temperature data over the past one thousand years. The chart demonstrated that temperature had risen with the increase in industrialization and use of fossil fuels and became the source of controversy involving politics and the implications for policy. Mann, the lead author of the original paper in which the “Hockey Stick” chart first appeared, shares the real story of the science and politics behind the “climate wars” in his latest book.

Mann was a lead author on the “Observed Climate Variability and Change” chapter of the IPPC’s Third Scientific Assessment Report in 2001. He was also the organizing committee chair for the National Academy of Sciences “Frontiers of Science” in 2003. He has received a number of honors and awards including NOAA's outstanding publication award in 2002 and selection by Scientific American as one of the fifty leading visionaries in science and technology in 2002. He shared the Nobel Peace Prize with other IPCC authors in 2007. In 2012, he was inducted as a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and was awarded the Hans Oeschger Medal of the European Geosciences Union.

Mann received his undergraduate degrees in Physics and Applied Math from the University of California at Berkeley, an M.S. degree in Physics from Yale University, and a Ph.D. in Geology & Geophysics from Yale University.

He’s the author of more than 150 peer-reviewed and edited publications. In addition to the The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars, his book Dire Predictions: Understanding Global Warming was published in 2008. He is also a co-founder and avid contributor to the award-winning science website RealClimate.org.

This event is sponsored by Rutgers Climate and Environmental Change Initiative, the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Rutgers' School of Arts and Sciences, and the Office of Community Engagement at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.