Study: AI Data Centers Raise Local Temperatures by 2-9 Degrees Celsius

1 day ago 3

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - AI data centers consume not only a huge amount of energy, but have other concerning impacts, according to a new study. These data centers act like "heat islands," warming the surrounding land by up to 16 degrees Fahrenheit (about 9 degrees Celsius), creating hotter living conditions for more than 340 million people.

"There are still big gaps in our understanding of the impacts of data centers, even as they boom in number," said Andrea Marinoni, an associate professor in the Earth Observation group at the University of Cambridge, and the author of the yet to be peer-reviewed study, as quoted by CNN on March 31, 2026.

Marinoni and his colleagues decided to investigate one under-researched impact, the heat released by data centers that power artificial intelligence through intensive energy processes, including computation and cooling system operations.

To do this, they looked at temperature data from the past 20 years from remote sensors and mapped it to the locations of 'AI hyperscalers'—large data centers that house thousands of servers and can span over a million square feet, most of which have been built within the last decade.

They focused on more than 6,000 data centers located far from densely populated urban areas, as the surrounding surface temperature tended to be unaffected by other factors such as manufacturing or house heating. The researchers also filtered out seasonal impacts, global warming trends, and other influences.

They found that the surface temperature rose by an average of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) after the data centers began operating. In extreme cases, the temperature in the vicinity surged by up to 16.4 degrees Fahrenheit (9.11 degrees Celsius).

According to the researchers' findings, this increase in temperatures is consistent worldwide. In the Bajio region in Mexico, for example, which has become a data center hub, the research found an unexplained 2 degrees Celsius temperature rise over the past 20 years. A similar situation was observed in Aragon, Spain, a large-scale AI data center in Europe, which recorded a temperature increase of 2 degrees Celsius that did not occur in neighboring provinces.

Surprisingly, the impact is not limited to the environment around the data centers. The temperature increase affects areas up to 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) away and impacts over 340 million people, according to the study.

These findings are extremely concerning, as AI data centers are expected to grow rapidly in the coming years, and this temperature increase is occurring at a time when global warming-induced pollution is already making heatwaves worse across the globe.

Marinoni said the scale-up of data centers could negatively impact the environment, people's welfare, and the economy.

Deborah Andrews, emeritus professor of design for sustainability and circularity at the London South Bank University, who was not involved in this research, said there are many concerns about the impact of data centers, but this is the first paper she has seen focusing on the heat they generate.

“The ‘rush for AI-gold’ appears to be overriding good practice and systemic thinking,” she said, “and is developing far more rapidly than any broader, more sustainable systems.”

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