AI Slowly Heats Up the Earth: In Some Places, Temperatures Rise by 9.1°C

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Scientists have found that data centers used for training and operating artificial intelligence can raise the surrounding temperature by 9 degrees Celsius.

Scientists were surprised to find that data centers for AI are causing the surrounding surface of our planet to heat up. The temperature increases at a distance of up to 10 km from the data processing centers. More than 300 million people are already feeling the rise in temperature, and this could become a huge problem, experts say, as reported by Focus.

Data centers built for training and operating AI emit so much heat that they raise the temperature of the surrounding soil, as found by scientists from the University of Cambridge (UK). These data centers create "heat islands," and the increase in temperature in the surrounding areas already affects hundreds of millions of people.

Experts predict that by 2030, the number of data centers being built around the world will significantly increase, and at least half of these data centers will be used for training and operating AI.

According to scientists, data centers for AI already consume a lot of energy, and this figure will only grow in the coming years. Research shows that the operation of data centers also negatively impacts the environment – soil temperatures are rising.

Scientists conducted satellite measurements of the Earth's surface temperature over the past 20 years and compared them with the locations of more than 8,400 data centers for AI worldwide. Understanding that other factors can also influence surface temperature, the researchers decided to focus on data centers located away from densely populated areas.

The study showed that soil temperatures increased on average by 2 degrees Celsius within a few months after the data center for AI began operations. In the most extreme cases, the temperature rise reached 9.1 degrees Celsius.

The research indicated that the surface of the planet heats up within a radius of up to 10 kilometers from the location of the data center for AI.

Scientists say that the results we obtained were quite unexpected, and this could become a huge problem for humanity.

Using population data, scientists calculated that more than 340 million people live within 10 kilometers of data centers, meaning in areas where soil temperatures are higher than they would be if the data center had not been built in that area.