Compute Under Pressure: Climate Risk and the Data Center Buildout

Editor’s Note: This is the first of a new series of data-led articles, as requested by Climate Proof subscribers. Thoughts? Feedback? Reach out at [email protected].

Two seemingly unstoppable forces are reshaping US society: climate change and AI.

These forces are not isolated from one another. Quite the opposite, in fact. Much has been written about how AI — and specifically, the buildout of the gargantuan data centers that host the compute the technology depends on — has turbocharged American companies’ appetite for power, and the effect this is having on the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.

But the scramble to build data centers is also amplifying the exposure of the “hyperscalers” — the tech corporations that own and operate these facilities — to physical climate risks. Companies adept at navigating the challenges and opportunities of cyberspace are now finding their fortunes increasingly tied to the real world, and to their capacity to make data center assets resilient to violent weather, extreme heat, and water stress.

A growing number of firms, meanwhile, spy an opportunity in this: helping hyperscalers build that resilience capacity, and ensuring their multi-billion dollar investments won’t be knocked offline by climate hazards.