They scream, they whistle, they growl, they roar. Even through the blameless night an occasional flight thunders in - freight, emergencies and the rich. Then as curfew nears its end, a low mumble builds above the cloud layer. We’re up here, they threaten the sleeping world, waiting. On strike of six they pounce, streaming rapid-fire through the languid morning, waking babes, rattling windows, shattering dreams.

I think I told you I live part time in Newtown now. Being here, I’ve understood the daily drip-torture of aircraft noise as the dull-right’s revenge on the inner-left. Six am brings crescendo after crescendo. Scream-thunder-roar, scream-thunder-roar. I lie still, feigning denial, fantasising alternative realities. What if there was no aviation? What if flying was banned?

Illustration: Simon Letch Credit:

It’s not improbable. Globally, aviation accounts for some 2.5 per cent of carbon emissions. That may not sound like much. But unlike most energy uses, aviation relies on hydrocarbons that cannot be replaced by renewables, due largely to the self-weight of the batteries. Further, although jet and other engines are increasingly efficient, those savings are far outweighed by the relentless increase in flying.

On current trends, according to the International Civil Aviation Authority, carbon emissions from aviation will increase 300 per cent to 2050 (from 2006 levels). Given the carbon reductions needed if we’re to stay beneath the desired 1.5 degree warming target (beyond which it’s anyone’s guess as to whether there’ll even be a tourism industry), aviation will by then chew up around a quarter of our global emissions budget.