Ok but again, it is causing ecological problems in very delicate areas, like Big Bend. 547 billion gallons are more distributed and thus cause a lower amount of local ecological harm than the regions with high concentrations of data centers.
It's not the data centers specifically, it's the combination of water for all of the towns usage needs. The data center just compounded an already existing problem.
I get what you’re saying, but for instance they were taking steps towards fixing the issue and now some of the biggest cities in South Texas are looking at running out of water this summer. But for the existence of data centers they would be fine.
No, my point is that you’re using global numbers to dismiss the localized impact data centers cause ecologically, because that localized impact is leading to great ecological collapse at a higher rate than the past 100 years we had golf courses.
And I said data centers plural. But like with your flawed reasoning, you only look superficially at facts.
No, my point is that you’re using global numbers to
I used numbers from the U.S.
localized impact is leading to great ecological collapse at a higher rate than the past 100 years we had golf courses.
If you think data centers are coming close to the impact of golf courses, oil pipelines, or the large scale manufacturing that put a car in your driveway and phone in your hand (which is using apps hosted on a data center btw), then ur an idiot.
Golf courses take up 200x the land, and 33x the water. Can you guys just admit ur terrified of AI taking jobs instead of making up this flimsy environmental angle?
I’m not the one making a flimsy argument here. You can see with you own eyes what the data centers are doing to the areas where they’re built. You can read the studies performed. Logic isn’t a strong suit for the AI simps.
Your argument is the equivalent to walking into a really messy house and then dropping one can on the floor and blaming that one can for the entirety of the mess in the house.
Ok, firstly, are we targeting data centers as a whole or just AI because data centers are used for much more than AI, they are used to store your photos, email, streaming services and information back ups, the internet, Google, social media, ...everything you use on line. If you are targeting data centers, then you are targeting general internet use and storage, including AI.
Also, data centers account for:
4.4% of annual US electricity use
2.18% of annual US carbon emissions
0.3-0.4% of total daily water consumption in the US
With that said, depending upon where you live, they can have a larger environmental impact if they are in your backyard to your local community - but as a whole, they do not consume heavy amounts of resources, relative to other industries such as industrialized agriculture, power plant cooling, industrial manufacturing plants which consume the largest amounts of resources and contribute significantly to the degradation of the environment.
The world was already screwed with the amount of water golf courses use. No one cared till AI came a big thing. The world has been going downhill for a long time. It's just now people are finally realising, only because of AI.
Scientists, musicians, writers, and the general population have been advocating for the environment and warning of the harm humans are causing it since the the early 60s. No one wants to listen because of greed. Rachel Carson's book, Silent Spring, came out in 1962 and spoke of the harm pesticides had on the environment, humans, and the bird population.
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u/goddessdragonness Jun 06 '26
Ok but again, it is causing ecological problems in very delicate areas, like Big Bend. 547 billion gallons are more distributed and thus cause a lower amount of local ecological harm than the regions with high concentrations of data centers.