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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Dharna Noor

Majority of datacenters are vulnerable to climate threats like floods and fires, study finds

aerial view of a data center
A datacenter in Ashburn, Virginia, on 31 May 2026. Photograph: Lexi Critchett/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Amid rising concern that the artificial intelligence boom is fueling the climate crisis, a new report has found that nearly 80% of datacenters are also exposed to extreme climate hazards, including flooding, extreme winds and wildfires.

Those impacts are leaving the infrastructure vulnerable to disrupted operations, increased time offline, and inflated insurance and repair costs, the research from climate risk analytics firm First Street shows.

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