Data centers are so hot their ‘heat island’ effect is raising temperatures up to 6 miles away and impacting 343 million people worldwide, study finds

https://fortune.com/2026/04/01/ai-data-centers-heat-island-hyperscalers/

Data centers are so hot their ‘heat island’ effect is raising temperatures up to 6 miles away and impacting 343 million people worldwide, study finds

Researchers warn these “heat islands” could have a “remarkable influence on communities and regional welfare,” and affect more than 340 million people.

Fortune
@gerrymcgovern The critique of the method, as summarized by the author, is particularly stupid. Even if the heat island effect is rooted in the construction and existence of the data center (i.e. increased permeable surface and loss of green space) and not in the operations of the data center, the data center is still causing heat island effect