"About two-thirds of upcoming [US] data centers, which typically require a large amount of water to operate, are set to be built in places that have been among the driest in the country"
In drought-prone Australia, what steps have govts taken to protect water resources from data centres? #auspol
Simon Rosenberg
Most New US Data Centers Are Slated for Drought-Plagued Areas
->Mother Jones | More on "Data centers worsening US drought" at BigEarthData.ai | #Data
This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. A record-shattering drought has racked much of the United States. But the artificial intelligence industry is pushing ahead regardless, with the majority of planned data centers set to be built in drought-ridden locations, a Guardian analysis has found. About two-thirds of upcoming data centers, which typically require a large amount of water to operate, are set to be built in places that have been among the driest in the country over the past year. Of 809 planned data centers, 517 are in locations that have been in drought conditions throughout the past year, according to data from Cleanview and the federal government, which grades drought across four levels of severity. A similar proportion of existing data centers are already situated in drought-affected areas. More than 60 percent of the contiguous US is currently at varying stages of drought, the largest expanse for spring in modern records, with a particularly severe lack of rain and snow in the Southeast and West desiccating croplands and raising fears of a disastrous wildfire season. Scientists have determined that the climate crisis, caused by the burning...
