No joke: data centers are warming the planet (still only 4.67 years left)

Findings by academic researchers suggest that hyperscalers' AI data centers contribute to local warming, but not everyone agrees.

Findings of a new study conducted by a group of academics from around the globe have revealed that land surface temperature (LST) increases by 2°C (3.6°F) on average after the start of operations of an AI data center, an effect detectable up to an estimated 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) away.

The study, The data heat island effect: quantifying the impact of AI data centers in a warming world, was conducted by a dozen experts from leading universities in the UK, Singapore, France, Italy and Hong Kong who specialize in either computer science or energy and environmental issues.

In it, they wrote, “taking advantage of land surface temperature measurements acquired by remote sensing platforms over the last decades, we are able to obtain a robust assessment of the temperature increase recorded in the areas surrounding AI data centres globally.”

Through the use of what they described as a “plethora of remotely sensed temperature measurements,” report authors estimated that the land surface temperature increases by 2°C on average after an AI data centre commences operation, inducing “local microclimate zones, which we call the data heat island effect.”

They noted, “with global data volumes growing rapidly, data centers are expected to be one of the most power-hungry [venues] in the next decade. In fact, it has been estimated that in three to five years, the power consumption for data processing will exceed the amount budgeted for manufacturing. As such, it is possible to expect that the impact of data centers and AI hyperscalers’ activities on climate might not be negligible, indeed being further exacerbated by the use of AI in the next decades.”

British conservative Katie Hopkins reported that over the weekend, over 800 homes in Kent, England were without water. How do you run out of water?

Today in her short YouTube video, she said "People are receiving letters at their homes, warning of an impending water shortage. It rains 380 days out of 365 days in this God forsaken country. It is not a problem of household usage. No one wants to talk about data centers and mega data centers in the UK that use the equivalent of 50,000 homes' worth of daily water, and there are over 500 data centers in the UK, all dealing with AI so some bloke can generate a frigging AI image of himself with a big c**k, dressed as a gladiator."

I saw a video of a house near a data center, and the sky looked like daylight even in the middle of the night.

Parking lot lights? Security lights?

Other than that how would a building full of computers produce any light outside?

I don’t due electrical power design so I wouldn’t know if it was doing it right or giving me bullshit.

Due to the expansion of the Internet we’ve had network centers up and running (Bunches of computers in racks with local storage!) from the 1990s on all over the country and no one has much complained. Drive to Dulles Airport and all down the toll road you’re flanked by data centers. At one time early 2000s 70% of all (The World!) Internet passed through those NoVa data centers. Not the case now. Now use the scary words Artificial Intelligence and all is panic! Those data centers are not fundamentally different from proposed A.I. centers.

Data centers ought to be required to bring their own power - come with a power plant particularly so in rural areas. Of course there are areas where they shouldn’t go. They can even sell any excess power into the local grid. Power plants are built in rural areas all the time and very few complain about them stealing water for cooling. In fact many people want them there. They improve the local economy. I am sure they can be designed so their cooling is internal and recycled after going through cooling towers back through the plant. In fact I know it to be true. Of course if not required or watched the center backers can do half assed job of the design to save money and build an unsafe environmental mess. However if the new A.I. economy is as lucrative as people say it will be. There should be plenty of money to do it right.

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