Overview
- An early Cambridge-led working paper finds nearby land surface temperatures rise about 2°C on average after hyperscale data centers begin operating, with extremes up to 9.1°C and signals detectable roughly 10 kilometers away.
- The authors estimate that about 340 to 343 million people already live within areas where this warming appears in satellite observations.
- The study mapped around 20 years of NASA land surface temperature data to more than 6,000 large, non-urban facilities and adjusted for seasons and broader climate trends.
- Independent experts caution that the paper is a preprint and that it tracks surface heat, not the air temperature people experience, noting new roofs, paving, and other land-use changes could drive much of the effect.
- With data center growth driving heavy power and water needs, the researchers point to fixes such as efficiency-focused software, more efficient chips, hybrid liquid cooling, and radiative coatings to reduce waste heat.