Scientists have found an alarming environmental impact of vast data centers
- data centers creating “heat islands”
- warming land around them by up to 16 degrees Fahrenheit
- big gaps in our understanding of the impacts of data centers
- heat released through energy-intensive processes
- data centers house thousands of servers over million square feet
- surface temperatures increased average 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit
- after data center started operations
- extreme cases, temperatures increase by up to 16.4 degrees Fahrenheit
- increases were consistent across the globe
- Mexico’s Bajio temperature rises of around 3.6 degrees over 20 years
- in Aragon, Spain, recorded temperature increase of 3.6 degrees
- temperature increases affected areas up to 6.2 miles away
- findings alarming because data centers set to boom
