“... We have no greater right to be here than any other animal.” Sir D. Attenborough.
The Climate Crisis Club: United for a Sustainable Future!
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The Inconvenient Truths about AI Searches, and Risks.
Three-quarters of Americans now say they would oppose a new data center being built near where they live, according to a new Heatmap Pro poll. Additionally, a recent Gallup poll found that nearly half of Americans would “strongly oppose” a new data center in their neighborhood, with many citing concerns about noise, pollution and energy and water usage. In the first quarter of this year, at least 75 data center projects worth $130 billion were delayed or stopped by local opposition, according to Data Center Watch, a project by the A.I. research firm 10a Labs. From: Trump Administration Is Repurposing Federal Land for A.I. Data Centers..
American environmentalist Bill McKibben 's statement on the ecological harm caused by data center proliferation driven by the corporate pushed expansion of AI:
“It really is an environmental plague... But for those who are concerned about the rapid warming of the planet, the last few weeks have made it finally clear that there’s an unholy alliance between Big Tech and Big Fossil."
Leading experts such as the Godfather of AI, Geoffrey Everest Hinton , a Nobel Prize laureate and Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto, and Bill Gates, an American businessman and philanthropist, have recently expressed worry over the safety of AI. Mr Hinton stated in an interview on the topic of AI wiping out humanity within the next decade, "We should obviously be cautious. It would be very foolish to say there was like a 1% chance. Nobody knows how to estimate it. A 10% chance seems not an unreasonable estimate..."
Mr. Gates stressed that the rapid development of AI needs to be slowed down to ensure that the benefits of it outweigh the risks. In his essay titled,
"An epochal shift: The turbulent AI era is here. The choices we make now are critical", he lists three threats to humanity posed by AI:
- Many jobs will disappear forever.
- AI will empower people (and perhaps AIs) to do more harm.
- AI could stunt our kids’ development and replace human relationships.
Besides these concerns on the potential social and existential harms of AI, the growth of data centers to support more AI chatbots mean more CO2 emissions due to more fossil fuels being burned. This results in an increase in global heating, and contributes to the instability of the Earth's climate and human social systems.
- Google's AI hasn't even began addressing its increased energy consumption - all the while AI searches use more energy, and emit more CO2: According to the International Energy Agency, a single query on ChatGPT consumes 10 times as much electricity as a traditional Google search.
- Google's greenhouse gas emissions were 48% higher in 2023 than 2019, with Google attributing much of the increase to expanding data centers and growing AI-related energy demands.
- Open AI states ChatGPT receives 2.5 billion queries per day. Each of these are sent to a data center that processes them with dirty energy from coal and gas, equivalent to driving 280 million miles per year in gas powered car, which is the same distant as circling the Earth 11 times. Thus, these data centers emit an enormous amount of CO2 and use approx. 5 drops of water per simple query (for cooling hardware) .
- Of course, the wider tech sector faces a similar fate of AI expansion increasing their overall CO2 emissions, with Microsoft admitting that AI has changed its climate targets. Many former tech industry commitments to net zero carbon emissions has been abandoned.
A.I. Use Increasing
- The energy consumption the average internet user is responsible for is increasing due to AI queries. Website links used to be the first thing an internet user saw upon entering a query on Google, now searches routinely return a summary generated by its in-house AI system.
- Publishers, website owners and SEO professionals report declines in traffic since AI-generated answers began appearing at the top of search results. According to Ahrefs (an A.l. marketing platform), AI Overviews can reduce clicks to websites by more than a third.
- Convenience over increased environmental costs: search users want concise answers without scavenging through multiple websites. That convenience comes with additional environmental costs that users cannot easily opt out of. We need to ask ourselves: are the ecological costs of Al worth it ? More data centers mean more CO2 emissions, more degraded environments, increasing demand for water resources, increasing electricity costs.
Sources and Links:
- Google Searches Use 10x more Energy.
- AI brings soaring emissions for Google and Microsoft, a major contributor to climate change.
- https://heatmap.news/daily/data-center-opposition-poll-collapse?
- https://thebulletin.org/2026/07/data-centers-powered-by-next-gen-nuclear-dont-fall-for-big-techs-pr-hype/?
PLEASE JOIN US TO DISCUSS ECOLOGICAL COLLAPSE
George Tsakraklides' discussion with the Climate Crisis Club
Join author George Tsakraklides as he discusses his latest book, "The Biology of Collapse," which explores vital themes such as biodiversity loss and the urgent need for climate action. Discover how renewable energy can play a crucial role in ensuring a sustainable future.
Learn more about G. Tsakraklides at these links:
https://substack.com/@georgetsakraklides
Get a preview of "The Biology of Collapse."
More diverse plants and grasses mean more life in your yard.
MOW LESS. PLANT NATIVE FLOWERS.
Mow less often, and plant small native pollinator plots to facilitate greater insect abundance and biodiversity. Keep your grass height between 3.5 and 4.5 inches, as a taller mowing height means less mowing, less water, and less work for your lawn throughout the summer. Avoid using pesticides which kill insects.
Art by artist Tone Bjordam.
Love Nature. Live According to Your Values.
Few disagree that we should pass on the Earth in good shape to future generations, and many scientists are dedicated to using climate science to contribute to that goal. However, feelings of hopelessness often prevent people from taking active climate action against issues like biodiversity loss. Read about Hope.
YOU CAN HELP FIGHT THE CLIMATE CRISIS AND BIODIVERSITY LOSS!
Decarbonize Your Life.
Decarbonize Your Life, Heatmap’s special report that aims to help you make decisions in your own life that are better for the climate, better for you, and better for the world we all live in. Discover how renewable energy can play a crucial role in ensuring a sustainable future.