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This comparison sounds to me like it is downplaying the significance of the numbers. California's almond-growing is another gross environmental crime, which is

This comparison sounds to me like it is downplaying the significance of the numbers. California's almond-growing is another gross environmental crime, which is regularly controversial in California.

bigDinosaur 2mo ago
That's because the Californian almond industry is exclusively located in California, unlike the global data centre industry.
- Intralexical 2mo ago
  The Californian almond industry has had over 100 years to develop. The AI data centre industry has had 4.
  - bryanrasmussen 2mo ago
    And imagine, it's already at the water usage of an industry that had a 100 years to develop. Great strides!
  - bigDinosaur 2mo ago
    This is not even an argument. 100 years? So you're admitting that almonds in California are clearly a sustainable industry that can exist in the long term.
- eesmith 2mo ago
  Since California produces about 80% of the world's almonds, it also means that the global water footprint for almonds is about the same as the global water footprint for AI. More directly, a global analysis does not mean the AI data centers are evenly distributed around the world. From the article: "A Bloomberg analysis suggests about two-thirds of data centers built or planned since 2022 are water-stressed regions, concentrated in Australia, Chile, Mexico, Spain, Saudi-Arabia, and the US Southwest (Nicoletti et al., 2025). Within the United States, Texas hosts over 400 data centers projected to consume nearly 3% of statewide water supply by 2030 (Martinez, 2025), in a state grappling with recurring drought conditions and aquifer depletion." "Corporate sustainability reports confirm this concentration: approximately 42% of Microsoft's water consumption occurs in water-stress regions, and 15% of Google's water use is concentrated in high water-scarcity areas (Barratt et al., 2025)." Comparing water-stressed regions in California for almond production to water-stressed regions used for data centers does seem relevant.
  - bigDinosaur 2mo ago
    Two completely unrelated things can indeed share some similarities at a very superficial level.
    - eesmith 2mo ago
      Yes. And two seemingly unrelated things can share deeper similarities.

This comparison sounds to me like it is downplaying the significance of the numbers. California's almond-growing is another gross environmental crime, which is regularly controversial in California.

bigDinosaur 2mo ago

That's because the Californian almond industry is exclusively located in California, unlike the global data centre industry.

Intralexical 2mo ago
The Californian almond industry has had over 100 years to develop. The AI data centre industry has had 4.
- bryanrasmussen 2mo ago
  And imagine, it's already at the water usage of an industry that had a 100 years to develop. Great strides!
- bigDinosaur 2mo ago
  This is not even an argument. 100 years? So you're admitting that almonds in California are clearly a sustainable industry that can exist in the long term.
eesmith 2mo ago
Since California produces about 80% of the world's almonds, it also means that the global water footprint for almonds is about the same as the global water footprint for AI. More directly, a global analysis does not mean the AI data centers are evenly distributed around the world. From the article: "A Bloomberg analysis suggests about two-thirds of data centers built or planned since 2022 are water-stressed regions, concentrated in Australia, Chile, Mexico, Spain, Saudi-Arabia, and the US Southwest (Nicoletti et al., 2025). Within the United States, Texas hosts over 400 data centers projected to consume nearly 3% of statewide water supply by 2030 (Martinez, 2025), in a state grappling with recurring drought conditions and aquifer depletion." "Corporate sustainability reports confirm this concentration: approximately 42% of Microsoft's water consumption occurs in water-stress regions, and 15% of Google's water use is concentrated in high water-scarcity areas (Barratt et al., 2025)." Comparing water-stressed regions in California for almond production to water-stressed regions used for data centers does seem relevant.
- bigDinosaur 2mo ago
  Two completely unrelated things can indeed share some similarities at a very superficial level.
  - eesmith 2mo ago
    Yes. And two seemingly unrelated things can share deeper similarities.