AI’s environmental costs threaten water, land and climate

Key points

• Data centres, the global infrastructure powering AI, could consume 945 terawatt-hours of electricity annually by 2030 – nearly triple the combined annual electricity use of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria, countries collectively home to more than 650 million people.
• However, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
• On top of the carbon footprint, every unit of electricity used by data centres also carries a “water footprint” for cooling and energy production, and a “land footprint” associated with power generation and supply chains.
• Rethinking how sustainability is measured According to a new study from UN University (UNU), AI-related water consumption could equal the basic annual domestic needs of 1.3 billion people by the end of the decade, while its land footprint may exceed 14,500 square kilometres — roughly twice the size of the Jakarta metropolitan area.
• © Unsplash/Taylor Vick The report highlights a critical gap in how AI’s environmental impact is...