Arizona study – A new study from Arizona State University found two Phoenix-area data centers are raising nearby neighborhoods’ air temperatures by up to 4 degrees and spreading heat roughly a third of a mile beyond the sites. The findings add to growing criticism that data-c
For people in Phoenix-area neighborhoods downwind of data centers, the heat doesn’t just stay put.
A new study from Arizona State University measured how much warmth two Arizona data centers were injecting into their surroundings—and found neighborhoods could run about 4 degrees warmer as a result. The results were published on Monday in the Journal of Engineering for Sustainable Buildings and Cities.
The research team focused on two sites in the Phoenix heat-growth corridor. In Mesa, they examined a 36-megawatt facility. In nearby Chandler, they studied a larger 169-megawatt data center campus. Their measurements showed that air temperatures were higher in downwind neighborhoods and that the warming extended roughly a third of a mile from the data centers.
“ As we do more measurements under different kinds of atmospheric conditions. I think we’re going to see more significant impacts around data centers. ” said David Sailor. the study’s lead author and director of Arizona State’s School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning. “They are such a concentrated load of electricity consumption. and hence heat emissions. that we became concerned about the impact that they could have locally. and also in the downwind neighborhoods.”.
The heat issue lands on top of another problem that’s already well known in the region. Urban “heat islands” make already-warm American cities—including Phoenix—harder to endure, because buildings, roads, and sidewalks radiate far more heat than grass and trees.
In rural and suburban areas as well as cities. the study found that exhaust air from data centers’ cooling systems is about 14 to 25 degrees warmer than the outside air. The researchers also offered a stark comparison: a single facility can release the equivalent yearly waste heat of 40,000 U.S. households.
This is not the first time scientists have pointed to land and temperature changes tied to data centers. A previous study published in March, led by U.K. researchers, found data centers were increasing land temperatures by up to 16 degrees, potentially affecting some 340 million people globally.
Environmentalists say the impact does not stop at heat. They argue that data centers—needed to power artificial intelligence—can raise energy demand and utility bills. drain water supplies. and create pollution. often in lower-income areas that face disproportionate burdens even as Big Tech profits from the technology.
The Arizona study adds a sharper local detail to that broader dispute: it shows that the warming is not only theoretical, and it can be traced outward from the electricity-intensive facilities themselves.
AI data centers Arizona State University Journal of Engineering for Sustainable Buildings and Cities Phoenix Mesa Chandler urban heat islands heat emissions environmental impact energy demand water use pollution