New studies reveal that tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are causing water use issues as they construct AI information centers in drought-prone areas.
More than two-thirds of new information centers constructed since 2022 are located in water-stressed areas, where people are now having trouble getting clean water, according to a Bloomberg research. These are not isolated locations; over 160 new AI-focused data centers have been constructed in the US over the past three years, an increase of 70 % over the past three-year time.
According to Bloomberg,” The issue has only grown worse in the decades since ChatGPT started a Artificial frenzy.”
Notice: Using ChatGPT to send one email equals consuming one bottle of water.
Water-hungry models are present in drought-stricken regions.
Ambient heating, a process that causes millions of liters of water each day to stop machines from overheating, is a key component of these data centers that energy AI equipment and cloud services. A single 100-megawatt data center can use up to 2 million liters of water per day, roughly equivalent to the daily water consumption of 6,500 households, according to the International Energy Agency ( IEA ).
However it companies continue to expand in dry, hot climates. Big new data center jobs are being implemented in state like Texas and Arizona, which are already experiencing historic floods. These include a huge$ 100 billion OpenAI” Movie” campus in Abilene, Texas.
Data centers now use around 560 billion liters of water every worldwide, according to the IEA, and that number is expected to triple by 2030.
SEE: Research Shows Data Centers You Reduce Energy Use By Up To 30 % With Just About 30 Lines of Code.
It “is spreading everyday,” it says.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Newsha Ajami, key strategy and development officer at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, said,” This is very much a growing problem— and it is spreading everywhere.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, India, and China are all developing in dry areas where climate change is now threatening liquid products. This is not just a US problem.
There were demonstrations in nations like Chile, the Netherlands, and Uruguay even before the AI bubble over water-guzzling technology projects.
Observe: Mr. Shark on Shark Tank. Great is constructing Canada’s largest AI data center in the world.
Concerns and secrecy about the water consumption in data centers
It has proved challenging to obtain reliable information about corporate water use. The Dalles, a town in Oregon, attempted to halt a demand from a regional newspapers to release Google’s water usage information. The town eventually agreed to release the records after a 13-month legitimate challenge.
The technology sector and farmers are at odds with one another in Spain. The Aragon region’s three fresh, planned data centres from Amazon are authorized to employ 755, 720 cubic feet of annual water, much to water more than 570 acres of farmland.
According to farmer Chechu Sánchez, speaking to The Guardian,” These data centres use water that comes from northern Aragon, where I am.” Where do they get their fluids, according to the saying?” They consume it. Of course, they take it away from you.
We are committed to doing our part to help the environment, according to an Amazon spokesperson who responded,” We know that waters is a beautiful source.”
Access: TechRepublic Premium’s Green Energy Policy for the IT Data Center.
Three tech giant ‘ “water good” vows
Companies like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon have pledged to become “water good” by 2030, which means they will transfer more water to the atmosphere than they use, in the face of growing scrutiny. However, critics claim that “water offsetting” doesn’t solve local scarcity.
In an appointment with The Guardian, Villanova University’s energy efficiency specialist Aaron Wemhoff said,” Carbon is a worldwide problem; it’s more localized.”
Nathan Wangusi, a former Amazon sustainability director, agreed with those problems and stated,” I raised the issue that this is not ethical in all the right locations.”
To prevent evaporation, Microsoft just created a closed-loop heating system, which it intends to use in its new services in Wisconsin and Arizona. Most AI-focused data centers still rely on water drying, and more are expected to do so by 2028, according to a statement from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Notice: Execs State Amazon and NVIDIA Does Continue to Build AI Data Centers.
A turning point for natural technology?
Despite a flood of natural vows, there is still a need for more sophisticated AI and the resources to support it. By 2028, according to Bloomberg, at least 59 more data facilities will be constructed in water-stressed areas of the US, with further development planned for the rest of the world.
Is it worthwhile to spend more money on taxes and the comparatively small number of work? asked Arizona State University professor Kathryn Sorensen, a former liquid chairman for Mesa, Arizona, to answer the question.
Concerns about the economic impact of the AI increase grow as it grows. The market is now facing a growing pressure to balance creativity and sustainability as data centers are expanding into drought-stricken areas.
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