AI data centers are having a serious impact on the environment. Due to this, the temperature of the surrounding areas is increasing and water is being consumed on a large scale. According to research, due to the heat island effect the ground temperature increases by an average of 2 degrees Celsius and more than 34 crore people are affected by it.
AI Data Centers Impact: Recent studies have revealed that Artificial Intelligence data centers are not only using huge amounts of electricity and water, but are also increasing the local temperature. Scientists from Cambridge University and University of California found that due to these centres, the ground temperature increases by an average of 2 degrees Celsius and creates a heat island effect in the surrounding areas. This effect extends up to 9.9 kilometers and around 34 crore people are affected by it.
Local temperature increasing due to data centers
More than 6000 data centers were analyzed in Cambridge University’s research. It was found that after the operation of AI data centers, a significant increase in temperature has been recorded in the surrounding areas. In many cases this increase can reach up to 9 degrees Celsius.
According to experts, this ‘heat island’ effect is changing the local microclimate. This means that the weather patterns in the areas where these data centers are located may gradually change, which may affect people’s health and the environment.
Water consumption has also become a big problem
Another major impact of AI data centers has come in the form of water consumption. To keep these centers cool, large scale cooling systems are used, which consume millions of liters of water.
According to the report, a medium-sized data center uses about 110 million gallons of water annually, which is equivalent to the annual use of about 1000 homes. At the same time, large data centers can use up to 5 million gallons of water daily, which can make the situation more serious in water-scarce areas.
Environmental impact of increasing use of AI
Experts say that with the increasing use of AI, pressure on the environment is also increasing. According to scientists at the University of California, processing a simple AI prompt (about 100 words) can consume about 519 milliliters of water.
Such consumption puts a huge strain on resources in the long run. The increasing demand for AI infrastructure could create new challenges, especially in areas where water scarcity already exists.
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