Andrea Marinoni, Erik Cambria, Weisi Lin, Mauro Dalla Mura, Jocelyn Chanussot, Edoardo Ragusa, Chi Yan Tso, Yihao Zhu, Benjamin Horton

Researchers using satellite thermal imaging have quantified a measurable heat island effect around AI data centers globally, finding that land surface temperatures increase by approximately 2 degrees Celsius on average after a facility begins operations. The study estimates that over 340 million people could be affected by these localized temperature increases, which create distinct microclimate zones around hyperscaler facilities. The findings suggest that heat dissipation from AI infrastructure may become a significant environmental and public health consideration as computational demand continues to grow worldwide.