The heat island effect of data centers!
Mar. 31st, 2026 10:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thewayneTwo things up front - not all data centers are AI data centers. And this article is a pre-print and has not yet been peer-reviewed.
A recent article in New Scientist, sadly pay-walled, shows that a data center can warm the surrounding area by 9C - that's 16 degrees Fahrenheit! It's ground-level, it's in the air. This completely ignores the noise pollution, including subsonic, of the enormous amount of cooling fans. A lot of the heat is from water-cooling, and the heated water is frequently directly released as steam with no attempt to cool it or reclaim it before direct venting.
One researcher said follow-up needs to be done to see how much is the systems internal to the building generating heat versus the sun directly heating up these huge buildings with large direct surface areas heating up. More than a bit of both, in my casual estimation.
As I said, the New Scientist article is pay-walled. Frequently Slashdot posters will post alternate links, but none have appeared yet. I think it's likely this might be picked up by Ars Technica or Gizmodo today or tomorrow, I'll post an additional link if I can.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2521256-ai-data-centres-can-warm-surrounding-areas-by-up-to-9-1c/
https://developers.slashdot.org/story/26/03/30/2337240/ai-data-centers-can-warm-surrounding-areas-by-up-to-91c
A recent article in New Scientist, sadly pay-walled, shows that a data center can warm the surrounding area by 9C - that's 16 degrees Fahrenheit! It's ground-level, it's in the air. This completely ignores the noise pollution, including subsonic, of the enormous amount of cooling fans. A lot of the heat is from water-cooling, and the heated water is frequently directly released as steam with no attempt to cool it or reclaim it before direct venting.
One researcher said follow-up needs to be done to see how much is the systems internal to the building generating heat versus the sun directly heating up these huge buildings with large direct surface areas heating up. More than a bit of both, in my casual estimation.
As I said, the New Scientist article is pay-walled. Frequently Slashdot posters will post alternate links, but none have appeared yet. I think it's likely this might be picked up by Ars Technica or Gizmodo today or tomorrow, I'll post an additional link if I can.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2521256-ai-data-centres-can-warm-surrounding-areas-by-up-to-9-1c/
https://developers.slashdot.org/story/26/03/30/2337240/ai-data-centers-can-warm-surrounding-areas-by-up-to-91c
no subject
Date: 2026-03-31 06:33 pm (UTC)