AI data centres can warm surrounding areas by up to 9.1°C

Data centres designed to support AI operations generate substantial heat, significantly raising local land surface temperatures. These “data centre heat islands” could already be impacting up to 340 million people.

The global construction of data centres is anticipated to grow significantly. According to JLL, a real estate firm, data centre capacity is expected to double from 2025 to 2030, with AI contributing to half of this increase in demand.

Andrea Marinoni from the University of Cambridge, UK, alongside his team, observed a steady rise in the energy consumption of data centres, predicting it will surge dramatically. They aimed to measure this impact.

The research team utilized satellite data to track land surface temperatures over two decades, correlating this with the locations of over 8,400 AI data centres. They focused on centres situated away from heavily populated areas to isolate the temperature impact.

The findings revealed that land surface temperatures rose by an average of 2°C (3.6°F) following the commencement of operations at AI data centres. Some locations experienced increases as high as 9.1°C (16.4°F).

The impact extended beyond the immediate vicinity of the data centres, with elevated temperatures detected up to 10 kilometres away. At a distance of seven kilometres, the intensity was reduced by only 30 per cent.

“The results we had were quite surprising,” says Marinoni. “This could become a huge problem.”

Using population data, the researchers estimate that over 340 million people reside within 10 kilometres of data centres, thus experiencing warmer conditions than if the centres were absent. Marinoni notes that regions such as Bajío in Mexico and Aragon in Spain have seen unexplained temperature rises of 2°C (3.6°F) between 2004 and 2024.

Chris Preist from the University of Bristol, UK, suggests the findings might be more complex, recommending further research to differentiate between heat from computation and heat from the building structure itself, possibly influenced by sunlight.

Regardless, Marinoni asserts that data centres contribute to ground temperature increases. “The message I would like to convey is to be careful about designing and developing data centres.”