The effects of the record heat wave experienced by Europe extended to several sectors, to the point that several European countries needed to shut down their nuclear reactors, abandoning their clean energy sources. At the same time, NASA satellites monitored the formation of new hot spots with high temperatures, and the primary culprit behind their formation, according to a recent study, is the data centers of artificial intelligence companies.
This is not the first time that the environmental effects of artificial intelligence technologies have raised controversy, but it is a new kind of controversy. While experts previously talked about the cost of building the huge data centers needed to operate artificial intelligence technologies and their energy consumption and cooling, studies now show a new danger emanating from these centers, as they cause an increase in the temperature of the surrounding lands in a phenomenon that Cambridge University scientists described as “digital heat islands.”
The temperature rise generated by data centers ranges from 0.3 to 9.1 degrees Celsius and can be felt up to ten kilometers away.
Although the phenomenon of digital heat islands is separate from the heat wave that Europe is currently experiencing, it intersects with it in light of European efforts to build its own data centers and the significant expansion led by technology giants.
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Perhaps you, as a user, look at artificial intelligence technologies with admiration and treat them as a free technology with no consequences for using them, but its effects are beginning to appear on the planet and soon it may lead to irreparable damage.
The ground heats up around the machine
The study, led by the University of Cambridge and Nanyang Technological University, points to a direct impact of massive AI data centers on the surrounding land.
The study, published in April 2026, relied on measuring the rise in temperatures directly based on NASA satellite data to measure the temperature of the Earth’s global surface in the period between 2004 and 2024, and then compared it to the locations of more than 11,000 data centers, including 6,733 data centers outside densely populated areas.
The study concluded that the Earth’s surface temperature in the areas surrounding and adjacent to artificial intelligence data centers increases immediately after the opening of these centers.
The temperature rise resulting from data centers ranges between 0.3 and 9.1 degrees Celsius, and this rise can be observed and felt ten kilometers from data center construction sites.
The study indicates that there are more than 340 million people living in the region that are exposed to the direct impact of rising temperatures resulting from data centers, as well as the direct impact of concrete blocks and cities, which in turn create their own concrete heat islands.
The impact of artificial intelligence data centers is not limited only to the heat islands surrounding them, as these centers release alarming amounts of greenhouse gases that enhance the phenomenon of global warming, so that the technology becomes responsible for the rise in air and land temperatures together, according to the study.
Why do data centers generate so much heat?
The answer to this question requires deconstructing the way artificial intelligence data centers work and the mechanism of their interaction directly with the user, as these centers are responsible for operating artificial intelligence technologies as we know them today.
When you send a question or command to the artificial intelligence model you are using, whatever its type, this model is sent directly to the data center, which includes hundreds or thousands of servers that give the artificial intelligence the ability to answer your questions.
The data centers then send you the answers back, and this cycle continues throughout a single conversation for each AI user.
While individual questions sent by a single user may not be a sufficient reason to increase heat production from data centers, the sheer volume of users of artificial intelligence technologies, numbering in the hundreds of millions, leaves a huge collective impact on the environment.
Because of the large number of users of artificial intelligence technologies and the difference in time zones, these data centers usually operate all the time without stopping, which causes them to consume a lot of electrical energy needed to operate the center, as well as the heat generated by operating their servers. This is because, in the end, they are computers that have components that produce heat like any home computer, but on a larger scale.
Large data centers for artificial intelligence technologies have up to 5,000 servers, often on an area of up to 930 square meters, and these servers usually consume between 100 and 300 megawatts of electrical energy to operate continuously, which is the energy needed to operate thousands of homes, according to a previous report on the Al Jazeera English website.
Greater risk from heat
A study conducted by the United Nations and published on its official website reveals a more dangerous impact than just rising temperatures, as artificial intelligence data centers constantly threaten the planet’s natural resources.
The study predicts that the water consumption of artificial intelligence data centers will reach the equivalent of the consumption of 1.3 billion people by the end of the current decade, in addition to the expansion of the construction of data centers whose total area may exceed 14,500 square kilometers, that is, twice the area of the residential area of Greater Jakarta.
Data centers’ water consumption will reach the equivalent of 1.3 billion people by the end of this decade
Therefore, the Secretary-General of the United Nations launched an initiative aimed at holding artificial intelligence companies directly responsible for their impacts on the environment, including the amount of water consumed, carbon emissions, and even the land used to build these centers, according to a report published by the Climate Home News website on June 23.
Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, described artificial intelligence technologies as “hungry to consume land, water and energy,” adding that they may consume more electricity than entire countries.
The paradox in the environmental impact of artificial intelligence data centers lies in the fact that they are vulnerable to environmental disasters that contribute greatly to their industry through their production of greenhouse gases, according to a report by the British newspaper “The Guardian” published on June 23.
The report reveals that 80% of data centers are vulnerable to environmental risks, including floods, strong winds, and fires.
The user is an essential factor
Although artificial intelligence companies stand responsible for their data centers, which they are building rapidly without finding alternative energy solutions, a large part of the responsibility falls on you.
While training AI models consumes a lot of energy and water, daily use of AI models is responsible for 90% of the total energy consumption of data centers, according to the UN report.
The reason for this is the volume of orders that users send to artificial intelligence models on a daily basis, as the total number of orders reaches 2.5 billion orders per day, according to the report.
The report confirms that the request to generate a single image from artificial intelligence models consumes more energy than a thousand text commands, and the amount of consumption increases in the case of generating video clips or audio clips.
Is there a solution?
The United Nations initiative recently announced by Guterres calls on artificial intelligence companies to search for new solutions that enable them to build and expand data centers without burdening the environment and communities surrounding these centers with the results of their construction.
The initiative proposes a number of different solutions, including reusing the wasted heat from these centers for heating and choosing better locations so that they are as far away from population centers as possible, as well as searching for more effective cooling and energy solutions and technologies and the ability to deal with the effects of artificial intelligence.
Some companies have already begun to search for these solutions, as several artificial intelligence companies have begun considering building their own data centers in the Arctic, according to a report published by the American “Time” magazine in early June.
Several major companies are also trying to exploit nuclear energy to operate their data centers, which would reduce greenhouse gas emissions for which artificial intelligence is responsible, as well as reduce electrical energy consumption in general from these centers.
But until companies start implementing these plans, AI data centers will continue to warm the planet, either through local heat islands around them or even through greenhouse gases that warm the planet overall.
The question remains, is the joy of generating funny videos using AI worth the significant environmental risks the technology creates?
