Negative Impacts 

This page will discuss the negative impacts that AI data centers may cause to the surrounding areas 

Strain on Water and Electricity 

The rise in AI data centers across the world has shown to strain the resources of the land around them. AI data centers run twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, with a cooling system to keep the computers in check. The cooling system is water from lakes, rivers, and from the city its closest to. In the article, “Data Drain: The Land and Water Impacts of the AI Boom,” written by Jon Gorey, he writes, “A study by Houston Advanced Research Center and University of Houston found that data centers in Texas will use 49 billion gallons of water in 2025, and as much as 399 billion gallons in 2030.” This amount of water being evaporated into the air is water not being recirculated into the environment, which leads to droughts and water levels dropping tremendously.

 

Writer, Molly Bush, discusses the electricity usage, in the article, “Construction and Consequences: The Human Impacts of Artificial Intelligence Data Centers,” and she writes, “The power usage of these data centers is projected to rise to nearly 2967 trillion watts an hour by 2030 … this increased pressure poses the threat of more frequent, long-lasting, and expensive blackouts for the communities surrounding these energy-hungry data centers.” Many of these centers are built in the country around irrigation systems and small towns that need the electricity, so farmers are affected because without electricity, the irrigation systems can’t pump water out of the ground onto the fields. “AI centers using 2967 trillion watts is a huge add-on considering the house average watt usage is only 1,200 watts an hour” (Bush). Also, many of these smaller towns have old electrical systems that would be fried with the added pressure, so it would be a huge expense on the residents of that county to update them. Bush also writes, “A Harvard study provides evidence that under-the-table agreements between utilities and Big Tech Consumers could be partly responsible for increased rates on everyday residents’ bills.”

Pollution 

Light and noise pollution are also to be considered when trying to find a good spot for an AI center. Miguel Yanez-Barnuevo writes in the article, “Communities Are Raising Noise Pollution Concerns About Data Centers,” that the fans and generators are constantly running and can be heard humming from hundreds of feet away and are louder than 90 decibels, which can lead to difficulty hearing. Much of the noise pollution is causing people to “get headaches, vertigo, nausea, sleep disturbances, ear pain, and hypertension” (Yanez- Barnuevo). Neighbors to the data center should not have to put up with listening to a constant humming sound throughout their day and at night. This can lead to animals being driven away and can cause annoying problems that can’t be avoided because of the constant humming. Data centers also create light pollution. “Many of the data centers run 24/7, and that means the lights are on all the time and that can affect the body’s circadian rhythm, which is needed in order to sleep and the body to make melatonin” (Pavlinich).

A lot of these centers are put in rural areas that don’t have as much air pollution as cities with big factories do, which can be a shock to the immune system and increase respiratory issues like asthma. Nitrous Oxides are known to be bad to breathe in and can cause a lot of health issues that cannot be avoided when they're in the air. In the article, “Roadmap shows the environmental impact of AI data center boom,” written by David Nutt, it is written that the carbon emissions from one data center can be the equivalent of 5-10 million cars on the road. That is a huge increase in carbon emissions that are not needed in the environment, and with the rural locations being picked, it makes the air quality worse in places that don’t have. A lot of traffic, so many people aren’t used to the air quality being as bad Critic, Elan Justice Pavlinich, wrote the article, “The Dangers of Data Centers,” and wrote “A study done in 2025 that shows the amount of people that these centers could cause 600,000 asthma symptom cases and 1,300 premature deaths, exceeding 1/3 of asthma deaths in the U.S. each year, resulting in a public health burden of more than $20 billion.” Many people have respiratory issues, and if you have asthma, these data centers as your neighbors could potentially kill you.

Impacts to Surrounding Wildlife and Land 

The negative impacts of AI data centers not only affect the people around them, but also the land and wildlife as well. The United Nations Environment Programme has brought to attention the different types of waste that these centers can produce. Members of the organization write, “Data centers produce electronic waste, which often contains hazardous substances, like mercury and lead.” This is a huge problem because both mercury and lead can cause health issues if they soak into the ground. Many of these centers are in rural areas where there is a lot of farming and wildlife. Where does the runoff go? It goes into and seeps into the ground with the groundwater that many people use. If the hazardous waste goes into rivers or lakes, it directly affects the wildlife in the area because they don’t have an option other than to drink the contaminated water and get sick. Not only would the water be intoxicated with mercury and lead, since these centers tend to take water from rivers, they will be affecting wildlife by taking away one of their necessitates of life.