A joint investigation by SourceMaterial and the Guardian has revealed that Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are building numerous datacentres in some of the world’s driest regions, which poses significant risks to communities already facing water shortages. Experts like Lorena Jaume-Palasi emphasize that the reliance on water for cooling these facilities complicates future resilience for these populations. Internal dissent within Amazon shows that sustainability efforts are questioned internally, despite their public statements regarding water use management. The planned expansion of these datacentres represents a 78% increase, raising alarms over their long-term ecological impact.
The issue of water scarcity is increasingly critical, particularly as tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google expand their datacentres in arid regions, sparking ethical concerns.
Resilience from a resource perspective is going to be very difficult for communities already facing water scarcity as tech companies grow their datacentre infrastructures.
Despite claims of mitigating water use, Amazon has faced internal criticism from sustainability experts who argue that their approaches are not ethically sound.
SourceMaterial's findings reveal 38 active and 24 planned datacentres by Amazon, Microsoft, and Google in areas already struggling with water shortages.
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