For my poster, I plan to look into the environmental impacts of AI data centers. The subject of AI has been a fast growing field affecting both natural and societal dynamics. There are numerous impacted areas in regards to these data centers (ie. water usage, raw material mining, land/construction, and general population health risks) but I will focus on the electrical consumption.
The first step towards mitigating the climate impact of AI data centers is calling for more transparency of big tech companies such as Google, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft. It would be unreasonable to try to advocate for the removal of all AI data centers as their utility in academic and research fields is undeniable. However the wide spread use of resource intensive computational power for mundane prompts unsustainable.
—–
References read so far:
- The carbon and water footprints of data centers and what this could mean for artificial intelligence – https://doi.org/10.1016/j.patter.2025.101430
- Explained: Generative AI’s environmental impact – https://news.mit.edu/2025/explained-generative-ai-environmental-impact-0117
- From innovation to overshoot: How data centre expansion risks derailing climate goals – https://ecostandard.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Data-centres-report.pdf
- AI data centre waste heat could be used for water purification and carbon capture – https://environment.ec.europa.eu/news/ai-data-centre-waste-heat-could-be-used-water-purification-and-carbon-capture-2026-03-30_en
Additional references to read:
- 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
- Environmental Impacts of Artificial Intelligence –https://www.greenpeace.de/publikationen/20250514-greenpeace-studie-umweltauswirkungen-ki-eng.pdf
- Environmental impacts and net-zero pathways for sustainable artificial intelligence servers in the USA – https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-025-01681-y
- AI, climate, and regulation: From data centers to the AI Act – https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clsr.2026.106326