Comment on AI boom has caused same CO2 emissions in 2025 as New York City, report claims
patatahooligan@lemmy.world 3 days agoAs far as I can understand, that number refers to current electricity usage. So the actual energy cost is significantly higher and it’s currently growing at a rapid pace.
Also what’s with the whataboutism? Aviation emissions are a huge problem. We don’t use it as a bar for whether something is significant or not.
wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 days ago
And it’s self-reported by the datacenters. I don’t want to just say that their numbers aren’t reliable, but they have a vested interest in downplaying their impact.
These are datacenters that get approval to use certain power plant styles with pollution capture technology installed that are then building more generators than approved and installing none of the pollution capture tech. So extra pollution and none of the mitigation.