When using a Theil-Sen estimator to detect long-term trends, why is this method preferred over simple linear regression for environmental datasets that contain significant outliers?

Simple linear regression uses the ordinary least squares method, which calculates the trend line by minimizing the sum of the squares of the vertical distances between each data point and the line. Because this method squares the distance of every point, a single extreme outlier exerts a disproportionately large influence on the slope, effectively pulling the line toward itself and away from the actual trend of the majority of the data. This sensitivity ....