When “data centers” and “climate change” are in the same sentence, it’s usually about how the former are fueling the latter with their thirst for energy. But the latter can also make life expensively miserable for the former. Maybe it’s not a great idea to pollute a planet if you have to share its atmosphere.
About 6% of nearly 3,000 data centers planned around the world are in places that will immediately put them at high risk of damage because of extreme weather, according to a new study by the risk-analytics firm XDI Pty Ltd. “High risk,” in this case, means these data centers could essentially be uninsurable without hardening themselves against fires, floods or whatever else their local environment will throw at them.
This is XDI’s follow-up to its report last year estimating that about 7% of nearly 9,000 built and planned data centers will be at high risk of climate damage by 2050. An additional 20% will be at “moderate” risk, meaning they’ll be able to get insurance, but it will be costly.
At this point, many of you will be saying, “So what?” or “Good!” or “I want those things killed with fire anyway.” Hatred of data centers is one of the few issues that unite left and right in the US, with 71% of Americans at least somewhat opposed to having one near their house, according to a recent poll by the climate news outlet Heatmap. The number of groups working to shut down development doubled in the first quarter of this year, according to Data Center Watch. I’d personally prefer we make it 1997 again, when you could occasionally have a little internet, as a treat, instead of 2026, when the internet follows you everywhere you go, muttering hallucinations.
But for some reason the powers that we have decreed artificial intelligence a civilizational imperative, requiring the hurried construction of swarms of data centers, on Earth and in space. Some $7 trillion will be invested in this enterprise by 2030, the consulting firm McKinsey estimates. So now your 401(k) hangs on every whisper from the mouths of people like Jensen Huang, the chief executive officer of Nvidia Corp. Ford Motor Co. added $11 billion in value virtually overnight on the mere promise of an AI side gig.
Like it or not, the global economy has more or less become a foundry for data centers the way some people think hot dogs are just delivery systems for mustard. And if we’re going to insist on making these things, then there’s an argument for building them to withstand a hotter, more dangerous atmosphere. At least that way, we won’t have to waste capital building them again.
“We want a data ecosystem that’s substantial, but that needs to be climate ready if it’s going to navigate a world where climate change is already underway,” Karl Mallon, XDI’s founder and head of science and technology, said in a webinar on Tuesday. “The results we’ve gotten previously on built infrastructure and now with planned infrastructure suggest we aren’t adequately preparing for climate change.”
