Comment on Generative AI is a societal disaster
ninjaphysics@beehaw.org 4 weeks agoThe water thing is not overblown if you consider that data centers will only use potable water and will not be able to use treated water. Per just one of many studies:
Large data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons per day, equivalent to the water use of a town populated by 10,000 to 50,000 people.
With climate change and the exacerbation of droughts around the world, this puts any source of fresh surface or groundwater at risk of drying up.
Only 3% of Earth’s water is freshwater, and only 0.5% of all water is accessible and safe for human consumption.
This is a growing environmental justice issue (and data centers encourage further energy poverty that I haven’t even addressed, much less the increasing ratio of usage for industry vs residential), and to ignore that we as humans cannot replenish or increase freshwater supplies with any meaningful scale to support life, this becomes a dire issue.
I for one would much rather have water and affordable energy for communities.
MagicShel@lemmy.zip 4 weeks ago
Why start with data centers and not almonds or dairy? The difference in water usage is staggering.
InevitableList@beehaw.org 3 weeks ago
Because data centers are being built all over the place. Californian almonds are only being grown in California.
MagicShel@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
Not sure I follow the reasoning. California doesn’t have an abundance of water and there are huge water rights issues over it, making producing almonds there even more outrageous. Data centers might be built where there is more abundant water. Even in California, data centers are a fraction of a percent and shouldn’t be restricted on the basis of water usage when vastly more wasteful industries continue to exist there.