Warmer air will keep planes lower for longer, exposing more Europeans to aircraft noise, say scientists.
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If you live under a flight path, the roar of departing planes could soon get even louder.
A new study from the University of Reading has found that airports across Europe could become noisier as the planet warms.
Published in the journal Aerospace this week, the research shows that climate change could alter how planes take off, leaving aircraft closer to the ground for longer and exposing more people to disruptive noise pollution.
How climate change alters the sound of departing planes
The team at Reading looked at aircraft performance at 30 European airports using ten climate models and three possible warming scenarios. Rather than predictions, the results are projections based on how much greenhouse gas pollution humans continue to release.
Since warmer air is less dense, the scientists explain, aircraft trying to take off can generate less lift in it. As a result, climb angles decrease on average 1-3 per cent, with days of extreme heat cutting angles by as much as 7.5 per cent.
That small change keeps planes lower to the ground over communities for longer, potentially widening the impact of noise exposure over European cities.
The researchers focused on the Airbus A320, one of the continent’s most common short-haul aircraft, and mapped its 50-decibel sound boundary – the level at which aircraft noise becomes clearly noticeable.
In central London, about 60,000 residents currently live within this zone. By mid-century, the researchers project that climate-driven changes and shifting population density could push another 2,500 people inside the boundary.
Another 2,000 people in Madrid and another 1,500 each in Lisbon, San Sebastian and Dusseldorf could experience aircraft noise disruptions by then, too.
“Over the next three decades, thousands of extra people in London could be blighted by noise pollution caused by climate change. The problem gets worse with different types of sound, too. Low-frequency noise, which travels further, will increase the most. These deeper sounds are particularly annoying to human ears and can cause stress and sleep problems,” said lead author Dr Jonny Williams in a statement.
Europe’s growing population faces the effects of climate change
The problem of airport noise is also likely to collide with demographic shifts in cities across Europe.
The European Commission estimates that more than 83.7 per cent of the continent’s population will live in urbanised areas by 2050, up from 76.5 per cent in 2015. That means millions more people will be clustered around transport hubs, including major airports.
At the same time, Europe is heating faster than the global average. In 2024, the continent suffered a record-breaking 62,000 heat-related deaths, a figure scientists say has tripled due to human-caused warming.
Without more meaningful cuts to carbon emissions, researchers warn that the world could breach the 1.5°C threshold as early as 2028, accelerating risks of wildfires, droughts, floods and intensifying heatwaves. Not to mention noise pollution.
“Together with increased turbulence and more airport flooding, we can now add noisier flights to the growing list of ways climate change is affecting aviation,” said co-author Paul Williams, “with unwelcome consequences for those who live near airports.”
