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

What’s Happening

Okay so Hundreds of millions of people live close enough to data centres used to power AI to feel warmer average temperatures in their local area Technology AI data centres can warm surrounding areas 9.

1°C Hundreds of millions of people live close enough to data centres used to power AI to feel warmer average temperatures in their local area By Chris Stokel-Walker 27 March 2026 Facebook / Meta Twitter / X icon Linkedin Reddit Email The number of data centres is rapidly increasing JIM LO SCALZO/EPA/ Data centres built to power AIs produce so much heat that they can raise the surface temperature of the land around them – creating so-called data centre heat islands that may already be affecting up to 340 million people. The number of data centres built around the world is forecast to rise enormously. (we’re not making this up)

JLL, a real estate company, estimates that data centre capacity will double between 2025 and 2030 – with AI expected to account for half that demand.

The Details

Andrea Marinoni at the University of Cambridge, UK, and his colleagues saw that the amount of energy needed to run a data centre had been steadily increasing of late and was likely to “explode” in the coming years, so wanted to quantify the impact. The researchers took satellite measurements of land surface temperatures over the past 20 years and cross-referenced them against the geographical coordinates of more than 8400 AI data centres.

Recognising that surface temperature could be affected , the researchers chose to focus their investigation on data centres located away from densely populated areas. They found out that land surface temperatures increased of 2°C (3.

Why This Matters

6°F) in the months after an AI data centre kicked off operations. In the most extreme cases, the increase in temperature was 9. The effect wasn’t limited to the immediate surroundings of the data centres: the team found increased temperatures up to 10 kilometres away.

This could have implications for future research in this area.

Key Takeaways

• Seven kilometres away, there was only a 30 per cent reduction in the intensity.
• Free to The Weekly The best of New Scientist, including long-reads, culture, podcasts and news, each week.

The Bottom Line

Seven kilometres away, there was only a 30 per cent reduction in the intensity. Free to The Weekly The best of New Scientist, including long-reads, culture, podcasts and news, each week.

Sound off in the comments.