UK Media: Most New US AI Data Centers Located in Arid Regions, Sparking Water Concerns
Of the 809 planned new data centers in the United States, 517 (about 64%) will be built in areas that have experienced persistent drought conditions over the past year. Currently, more than 60% of the contiguous U.S. is experiencing varying degrees of drought—the largest springtime drought extent recorded in modern meteorological history.
With the rapid development of the AI industry, data center water consumption has significantly increased. Large facilities may require up to 5 million gallons (approximately 18.9 million liters) of water per day for cooling—equivalent to the daily water usage of 50,000 people. It is projected that by 2028, annual water consumption by U.S. data centers will rise from 17 billion gallons in 2023 to 73 billion gallons. Research estimates that generating 100 words of AI text consumes about 500 milliliters of water.
Tech giants such as Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon are accelerating data center construction, but farmers and environmentalists are concerned about competition for limited water resources between these facilities and agriculture and residential users. The United Nations predicts that by 2050, around 75% of the global population could be affected by drought, making the water stress caused by AI expansion a new source of social controversy.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1867446135823370/
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