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Yes. The hot water the datacenters dump destroys local ecosystems.

by thinkingtoilet 4mo ago

deleted 4mo ago
[deleted]
vlan0 4mo ago
That's interesting...I don't think I've seen the data to support this
- stonogo 4mo ago
  Probably not an accident; see Kim. Data Center Cooling Water Discharge: Assessing Environmental Transparency and Information Gaps, 32 Hastings Envt'l L.J. 177 (2026) But the work is out there, for instance Miara et al. Thermal pollution impacts on rivers and power supply in the Mississippi River watershed, Environ. Res. Lett. 13 034033 (2018) Worthington et al. The effects of a thermal discharge on the macroinvertebrate community of a large British river: implications for climate change. Hydrobiologia 753, 81–95 (2015) Lukšienė, Sandström, Lounasheimo, and Andersson. The effects of thermal effluent exposure on the gametogenesis of female fish. Journal of Fish Biology, 56: 37-50 (2000) Penk and Williams. Thermal Effluents from Power Plants Boost Performance of the Invasive Clam Corbicula Fluminea in Ireland's Largest River. Science of The Total Environment, vol. 693 (2019)
  - deleted 4mo ago
    [deleted]
  - vlan0 4mo ago
    Mmm yeah...just straight releasing the water isn't ideal. But of course, it's free! And that's what society optimizes for, sadly.
boxed 4mo ago
Citation?
- deleted 4mo ago
  [deleted]
- coldtea 4mo ago
  Why would a citation be needed?
  - DanielHB 4mo ago
    Actually yeah, data centers using evaporative cooling shouldn't be causing more waste heat problems than most types of heavy industry. Heck, I would guess that even if datacenters dumping hot water on rivers it shouldn't have much of an impact unless the river is very small. Shouldn't spread misinformation when there are plenty of other valid points about datacenters.
    - coldtea 4mo ago
      >I would guess that even if datacenters dumping hot water on rivers it shouldn't have much of an impact unless the river is very small. That's the extraordinary claim. That is what should need citation, not the other way around.
    - pjdesno 4mo ago
      There aren't many heavy industries that dissipate 100MW of thermal energy, never mind a GW. Those that do - power generating facilities, large smelters, etc. - have very significant environmental footprints.
  - freedomben 4mo ago
    Unless I'm misunderstanding, TFA is talking about a closed loop system and uses a coolant mix, so yeah I think a citation is needed.
    - croes 4mo ago
      I guess parent means the heat has to somewhere, closed system or not. Some nuclear power plants use rivers and lakes, that’s bad for their ecosystems if it’s too much but this system uses dry coolers so the extra heat should be negligible

Yes. The hot water the datacenters dump destroys local ecosystems.

deleted 4mo ago

[deleted]

vlan0 4mo ago

That's interesting...I don't think I've seen the data to support this

stonogo 4mo ago
Probably not an accident; see Kim. Data Center Cooling Water Discharge: Assessing Environmental Transparency and Information Gaps, 32 Hastings Envt'l L.J. 177 (2026) But the work is out there, for instance Miara et al. Thermal pollution impacts on rivers and power supply in the Mississippi River watershed, Environ. Res. Lett. 13 034033 (2018) Worthington et al. The effects of a thermal discharge on the macroinvertebrate community of a large British river: implications for climate change. Hydrobiologia 753, 81–95 (2015) Lukšienė, Sandström, Lounasheimo, and Andersson. The effects of thermal effluent exposure on the gametogenesis of female fish. Journal of Fish Biology, 56: 37-50 (2000) Penk and Williams. Thermal Effluents from Power Plants Boost Performance of the Invasive Clam Corbicula Fluminea in Ireland's Largest River. Science of The Total Environment, vol. 693 (2019)
- deleted 4mo ago
  [deleted]
- vlan0 4mo ago
  Mmm yeah...just straight releasing the water isn't ideal. But of course, it's free! And that's what society optimizes for, sadly.

boxed 4mo ago

Citation?

deleted 4mo ago
[deleted]
coldtea 4mo ago
Why would a citation be needed?
- DanielHB 4mo ago
  Actually yeah, data centers using evaporative cooling shouldn't be causing more waste heat problems than most types of heavy industry. Heck, I would guess that even if datacenters dumping hot water on rivers it shouldn't have much of an impact unless the river is very small. Shouldn't spread misinformation when there are plenty of other valid points about datacenters.
  - coldtea 4mo ago
    >I would guess that even if datacenters dumping hot water on rivers it shouldn't have much of an impact unless the river is very small. That's the extraordinary claim. That is what should need citation, not the other way around.
  - pjdesno 4mo ago
    There aren't many heavy industries that dissipate 100MW of thermal energy, never mind a GW. Those that do - power generating facilities, large smelters, etc. - have very significant environmental footprints.
- freedomben 4mo ago
  Unless I'm misunderstanding, TFA is talking about a closed loop system and uses a coolant mix, so yeah I think a citation is needed.
  - croes 4mo ago
    I guess parent means the heat has to somewhere, closed system or not. Some nuclear power plants use rivers and lakes, that’s bad for their ecosystems if it’s too much but this system uses dry coolers so the extra heat should be negligible