RE: https://mastodon.green/@gerrymcgovern/116334729524665446
New paper about local temperature impact of AI data centers:
The data heat island effect: quantifying the impact of AI data centers in a warming world
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/403073048_The_data_heat_island_effect_quantifying_the_impact_of_AI_data_centers_in_a_warming_world
The further you are into a modern Australian suburb, the hotter it gets due to climate hostile architecture, at 2klicks in its 5 degrees C hotter.
What does it mean?
Data centres create almost as much heat at similar distances as modern housing infrastructure.
The problem isn't as much data centres but fundamental design choices in a #climatecatastrophe world.
An industrial roof with solar and/or lawn installed;
(EPA) data shows surfaces can be 31°C cooler than conventional roofs, reduce cooling loads by 70%, and lower indoor air temperatures by 15°C
With the outside taken care of, the cooling is easier.
Its not the total solution, but we are not even trying
But that's too #woke for the current crop of vandals.
@n_dimension Yeah, Meteoblue had some good research about the city heat island effect too:
But in the end, does it really matter to the environment/neighborhoods if the heat is generated by AI compute itself or not if these large-scale building structures are adding/extending this already hard to combat effect even further, and that for dubious benefits to these areas or society at large? The entire premise of hyperscaling/bruteforcing AI tech (not only the compute parts) is so completely inverse proportional to the actual reality in terms of resources (all kinds, incl. land use) and the trajectory we're on as civilization. They're selling a cornucopia dream of sheer abundance and consumption which just isn't anchored to any form of material reality or even concrete needs. I've never seen a bigger house of cards...
Karsten Schmidt
Wulfy—Speaker to the machines
Jan-Willem Markus