4 2GM Tuesday October 20 2020 | the times
News
Scientists who specialise in climate
change fly more than other research-
ers, according to a study by Cardiff Uni-
versity that has prompted calls for them
“to look in the mirror” before demand-
ing that others cut emissions.
Climate scientists take about five
flights a year on average for work while
other researchers take four. Climate
professors catch nine flights a year
compared with eight for all professors.
Even when trips for fieldwork were
removed from the comparison, climate
scientists still flew more than scientists
from other disciplines.
The difference could be that climate
scientists attend more international
conferences, according to Lorraine
Whitmarsh, an environmental psy-
chologist and lead author of the study.
Climate scientists also took an aver-
age of three international flights a year
for personal reasons, the same as other
researchers, even though the study
found that they had “higher levels of
Body of work Zeittunnel, by Salomé, a neo-expressionist German painter, punk and part of the Wild Youth, is expected to fetch £12,000 at Bonhams on Thursday
Climate experts fly more
often than other scientists
awareness and concern about the
impact of aviation on climate change”.
It also found that they were more
likely to have taken steps to reduce or
offset the emissions from their flying.
While 43.8 per cent of climate scientists
offset flights at least occasionally, only
25.8 per cent of other scientists did so.
Kevin Anderson, professor of energy
and climate change at the University of
Manchester, who stopped flying in
2004, said that the study made for
uncomfortable reading. “This paper
must be a catalyst for rapid change,” he
said. “We need to take a long, hard look
in the mirror.”
The study, published in Global Envi-
ronmental Change, involved an anon-
ymous survey in 2017 of 1,400 univers-
ity researchers from 59 countries.
About a fifth specialised in climate
change. Professor Whitmarsh said:
“Those with the most knowledge of all,
climate change professors, fly more
than any other group. Our findings
highlight that climate scientists, like
many other professionals, can struggleto square their environmental commit-
ments with competing professional and
personal demands, and academia itself
is not doing enough to change this
culture.”
The research showed the need to
encourage use of online alternatives to
attending scientific conferences, which
was already happening because of cor-
onavirus restrictions, she added
“These virtual options can be just as
effective as face-to-face meetings, but
at a fraction of the cost, as well as being
more accessible for those with caring
commitments.”
Jim Skea, professor of sustainable
energy at Imperial College London,
flew abroad five times in the 12 months
to March. He said that the trips were
essential because of his role as co-
chairman of a group of lead authors of
an Intergovernmental Panel on Clim-
ate Change report.
Academics at Cambridge face per-
manent restrictions on flying to confer-
ences as the university tries to go
carbon neutral.Ben Webster Environment Editor
Every two years
enough for a
trip to dentist
Katie Gibbons
Skipping the habitual six-monthly visit
to the dentist is fine, according to a sys-
tematic review that found most people
can go two years between check-ups
without harm.
Experts found that the risk of disease
does not rise whether adults see their
dentists every six months, 24 months,
or on a schedule based on their person-
al oral health. NHS advice on check-
ups ranges from every three months up
to two years. People in good oral health
will probably need to attend every 12 to
24 months but those with more prob-
lems will need more check-ups.
Patrick Fee, lead author of the report
by Cochrane, an independent network
of health experts in 130 countries, said:
“Patient access to dental care may re-
main limited for some time. However,
the results of this review provide reas-
surance to those providing and seeking
dental treatment that intervals
between check-ups can be extended
beyond six months without detriment
to the oral health of patients.”Carmakers could be compelled to sell a
rising share of electric vehicles each
year under California-style plans being
considered by the government.
Ministers believe a “zero emission
vehicle mandate”, similar to the one in-
troduced in the US state in the 1990s,
could be the most efficient way of deliv-
ering their pledge to end the sale of new
petrol and diesel cars by 2035. It would
Manufacturers may be forced to sell electric cars
allow grants and other subsidies for
electric cars, such as zero road tax, to be
phased out while ensuring sales rose
rapidly. It could also help attract elec-
tric car manufacturers to Britain.
The government is expected to an-
nounce shortly that it will accelerate
the deadline for banning sales of petrol
and diesel cars, possibly to 2030. Down-
ing Street said in February that the ban
would be brought forward from 2040 to
“2035 or earlier” and hybrids would al-so be banned. About 5.4 per cent of cars
sold so far this year were fully electric.
Under the mandate, manufacturers
would be required to sell more zero
emission vehicles as a share of their
overall sales, or purchase credits from
other manufacturers.
The government said it was consider-
ing a mandate in a response to the
Committee on Climate Change, which
recommended the policy in a report
this summer. Under the heading “ZeroEmission Vehicle Mandate”, its re-
sponse said: “We recognise that we
need to go further than the existing reg-
ulatory regime to reduce CO 2 emis-
sions from road transport to deliver our
climate goals and we are considering
this as part of the Transport Decarbon-
isation Plan.”
Grant Shapps, the transport secre-
tary, previously praised a report calling
for a mandate published by Policy Ex-
change, a think tank.Ben Webster
Police ‘killer’ paralysed
An autistic man accused of
shooting dead Sergeant Matiu
Ratana at Croydon police station
last month may never face
charges because he suffered brain
damage after turning the gun on
himself. Louis De Zoysa, 23, had a
stroke, which has left him
paralysed down one side of his
body and unable to give legal
instructions, The Sun said.GCHQ secrets revealed
GCHQ had a near 30-year ban
on hiring staff who were not
white, according to its first
authorised history. The author
John Ferris said he was was given
“unprecedented access” to the
archive at Government
Communications Headquarters
to write Behind the Enigma, a
“warts and all account” which is
published by Bloomsbury today.Diamond lost at station
A businessman has won £30,
in compensation after a diamond
fell from his girlfriend’s ring at
Victoria station in London. Mark
Hare, 58, of West Sussex, bought
the 3.1 carat yellow diamond from
Philip Lloyd Jewellers, of Reigate.
At Central London county court
Judge Nicholas Parfitt ruled the
claws that held it were not of
satisfactory quality.Officer used cannabis
A Scotland Yard commander with
responsibility for its drugs
strategy has admitted using
cannabis for medicinal purposes.
Julian Bennett was suspended
from duty pending possible
disciplinary proceedings after he
apparently refused to take a drugs
test. He chaired misconduct
panels that led to officers being
dismissed for smoking cannabis.Sentamu peerage row
The government has denied
reports that Britain’s first black
archbishop was snubbed for a life
peerage as it insisted the process
of his ennoblement was “well
under way”. It was expected that
the Most Rev John Sentamu
would be named as a life peer,
like his predecessors, when he
retired as Archbishop of York
after 15 years. After an outcry by
priests and MPs over reports that
Dr Sentamu, 71, had been
overlooked, the government said
that there was a procedural delay.C C D E E E E F
F F G G G H I I
I L L N N N N O
O O O R R T U V
Solve all five clues using each
letter underneath once only1 Infernal domain ( 4 )
2 Spot, observe ( 6 )
3 Terrain ( 6 )
4 Crime ( 7 )
5 Merciful, lenient ( 9 )
Quintagram® No 825
Solutions MindGames in Times
Times Quintagrams: Book 2 out nowTIMES PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD POHLE