{"id":13895,"date":"2026-05-04T10:29:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T10:29:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/04\/scientists-discover-impact-of-data-centers-creating-heat-islands-warming-the-earth-by-16-degrees-unilad\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T10:29:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T10:29:44","slug":"scientists-discover-impact-of-data-centers-creating-heat-islands-warming-the-earth-by-16-degrees-unilad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/04\/scientists-discover-impact-of-data-centers-creating-heat-islands-warming-the-earth-by-16-degrees-unilad\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists discover impact of data centers creating &#039;heat islands&#039; warming the Earth by 16 degrees &#8211; UNILAD"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"\/\">Home<\/a><span><span>&gt; <\/span><a href=\"\/news\">News<\/a><\/span><span><span>&gt; <\/span><a href=\"\/news\/world-news\">World News<\/a><\/span><br \/>Centers powering AI could well be contributing towards AI<br \/>Callum Jones<br \/>Topics:\u00a0<a class=\"topics-list_tag__Ryb8j\" href=\"\/artificial-intelligence\">Artificial Intelligence<\/a>, <a class=\"topics-list_tag__Ryb8j\" href=\"\/environment\">Environment<\/a>, <a class=\"topics-list_tag__Ryb8j\" href=\"\/climate-change\">Climate Change<\/a>, <a class=\"topics-list_tag__Ryb8j\" href=\"\/news\">News<\/a><br \/>Advert<br \/>Advert<br \/>Advert<br \/><strong>The global expansion of data centers used to power artificial intelligence (AI) across the globe is creating &#x27;heat islands&#x27;, according to a recent study.<\/strong><br \/>There&#x27;s no doubt that <a class=\"anchor_link__6t7IO\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unilad.com\/artificial-intelligence\">AI<\/a> is here to stay with many companies working to implement it, but it seems as though that may be coming at the cost of the environment.<br \/>Discussion surrounding <a class=\"anchor_link__6t7IO\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unilad.com\/climate-change\">climate change<\/a> is certainly a divisive one, with the Trump administration taking a different stance on the <a class=\"anchor_link__6t7IO\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unilad.com\/environment\">environment<\/a> compared to past governments.<br \/>Data centers powering AI may just be contributing towards the crisis, as the expansion is creating &#x27;heat islands&#x27; warming <a class=\"anchor_link__6t7IO\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unilad.com\/earth\">Earth<\/a> by up to 16 degrees Fahrenheit.<br \/>Advert<br \/>The revelation was made by researchers at the <a class=\"anchor_link__6t7IO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/403073048_The_data_heat_island_effect_quantifying_the_impact_of_AI_data_centers_in_a_warming_world\">University of Cambridge<\/a> and could well affect more than 340 million people across the globe.<br \/>Andrea Marinoni, associate professor at the British university, explained to <a class=\"anchor_link__6t7IO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2026\/03\/30\/climate\/data-centers-are-having-an-underrported?Date=20260330&amp;Profile=cnn&amp;utm_content=1774893115&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=threads&amp;fbclid=IwY2xjawRkGjJleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeSuPDfSc_XglVUi3KoUoC8YSYvDdYmdtv9gv36qJNSZAiAv5CdaMvoqE4Nqo_aem_OoO-eycnoeW0xZEZLW12xg\">CNN<\/a> how much research needs to be done to understand the &#x27;big gaps&#x27; when it comes to how these date centers are impacting the planet.<br \/>However, these initial results are certainly concerning considering the expected rise of AI.<br \/>The team of experts over at the University of Cambridge analysed temperature date over a period of 20 years in locations where these AI data centers have popped up in recent times.<br \/><a class=\"anchor_link__6t7IO\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unilad.com\/science\">Scientists<\/a> focused on some 6,000 data centers found away from dense urban areas due to the surface temperatures being unlikely to be impacted by factors like manufacturing.<br \/>To ensure accurate results, the researchers discounted external factors such as global warming changes and the impact seasonal changes could have on findings.<br \/>They found on average that surface temperatures increased by a noticeable 3.6 degrees after the centres had opened, and in some cases, an eye-watering 16.4 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded.<br \/>Deborah Andrews, emeritus professor of design for sustainability at London South Bank University, spoke to CNN after the remarkable findings were made public.<br \/>She tried to down play concerns by saying this is a first-of-a-kind study which will certainly need more validation.<br \/>Andrews added to the outlet: &quot;The \u2018rush for AI-gold\u2019 appears to be overriding good practice and systemic thinking and is developing far more rapidly than any broader, more sustainable systems.&quot;<br \/>Meanwhile, fellow expert Ralph Hintemann, expressed doubt at the results, describing the particular higher figures as &#x27;interesting&#x27; and &#x27;very high&#x27;.<br \/>In their findings, the researchers involved in the study discussed a number of options for AI to reduce its carbon footprint, including the creation of &#x27;carbon-aware&#x27; software.<br \/>The president has come under fire for his handling of certain issues<br \/>Rudy Giuliani was elected as New York&#x27;s mayor in 1993<br \/>Victims were left in &#x27;various conditions&#x27;<br \/>The phenomenon could cause a scorching summer this year<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/rss\/articles\/CBMijgFBVV95cUxOeHp6RldOMm5DR1JpYzdoY1pSWDFZcFhfblZVU0tpRWtTVlBDVXE5UU9DNFZmMXFrbFNPbmZEaXRzOXdOeS1XbU9kWVVrdTdIb3otVEp2Vl9tcXNsdmZBMklNNUtoSktjd1N0VlczdHFDZWlIdGhLdmFEZmZqYzI1bHZSb2lRWTVvMjV2VjhR?oc=5\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home&gt; News&gt; World NewsCenters powering AI could well be contributing towards AICallum JonesTopics:\u00a0Artificial Intelligence, Environment, Climate Change, NewsAdvertAdvertAdvertThe global expansion of data centers used to power artificial intelligence (AI) across the globe is creating &#x27;heat islands&#x27;, according to a recent study.There&#x27;s no doubt that AI is here to stay with many companies working to implement [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13895","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}