“Google’s emissions climb nearly 50% in five years due to AI energy demand” vs People Dying of Heat Stroke due to Climate Change

Dan Milmo writing for The Guardian:

Google’s goal of reducing its climate footprint is in jeopardy as it relies on more and more energy-hungry data centres to power its new artificial intelligence products. The tech giant revealed Tuesday that its greenhouse gas emissions have climbed 48% over the past five years.

Google said electricity consumption by data centres and supply chain emissions were the primary cause of the increase. It also revealed in its annual environmental report that its emissions in 2023 had risen 13% compared with the previous year, hitting 14.3m metric tons.

Sushmita Pathak, writing for The World:

Large swaths of northern and central India have been sizzling under scorching heat for several weeks. In late May, temperatures shot up to 122 degrees Fahrenheit in many states and the capital, New Delhi. Coinciding with India’s general election, the relentless heat unleashed a public health crisis, killing 56 people.

(…)

“It is much more severe,” confirmed Avikal Somvanshi, a researcher at the Center for Science and Environment in Delhi. “In fact, of the 24 year-data that I have analyzed so far, this is the worst.”

This isn’t the future, it’s the present. Climate change is killing people now and it is absolutely evil that companies are pursuing these technologies that are so resource-intensive at this time just to increase shareholder value.