Data centers raise nearby temperatures by up to 4 degrees in US desert city

Skyline view of Phoenix, AZ [credit: DPPed @ Wikipedia]

” data-image-caption=”" data-large-file=”https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/phoenix_az.jpg?w=592″ src=”https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/phoenix_az.jpg?w=300″ alt=”" width=”300″ height=”231″ class=”alignright size-medium wp-image-85186″ srcset=”https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/phoenix_az.jpg?w=300 300w, https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/phoenix_az.jpg?w=150 150w, https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/phoenix_az.jpg 592w” sizes=”(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px” />
Phoenix is the biggest city in the Arizona Sun Corridor. The last thing it needs is more heat, although it could provide ammunition for climate worriers keen to blame humans for any and all temperature increases. Of course Phoenix is only an obvious example of an effect occurring anywhere with similar waste heat outlets.
– – –
Waste heat from data centers can boost air temperatures in downwind neighborhoods by as much as 4 degrees Fahrenheit, researchers at Arizona State University report in a new study conducted in the Phoenix metro area, the hottest in the U.S.

“As we do more measurements under different kinds of atmospheric conditions, I think we’re going to see more significant impacts around data centers,” said lead author David Sailor.

With hundreds of megawatts of data center capacity operating in many cities, and thousands more proposed, the combined impact on urban temperature could be substantial, says TechXplore.

U.S. data center capacity is projected to more than double by 2030. Sailor and co-authors said the overlooked heat hazard demands attention from city planners and industry developers. The researchers aim to help develop solutions that could significantly reduce downwind impacts.

The waste heat produced by a single data center can surpass the amount emitted by 40,000 households, according to Sailor. Air-cooled condenser arrays discharge air heated to 14 to 25 degrees F above the surrounding air temperature, creating thermal plumes that move downwind over neighboring areas.

“They’re such a concentrated load of electricity consumption and hence heat emissions that we became concerned about the impact that they could have locally, and also in the downwind neighborhoods,” said Sailor, a professor at Arizona State University and director of ASU’s School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning.
. . .
“Even if these data centers only contribute to an additional heat island magnitude of one degree or two degrees, that can still have a very significant impact on our lives,” Sailor said. That’s especially true in places where extreme heat already poses serious public health risks.

A one-degree boost in air temperature, for example, is enough to drive higher use of air conditioning across entire neighborhoods. Those air conditioners, in turn, put even more heat into the surroundings.

Sailor and colleagues are planning a more extensive effort to collect data over a wider range of times and weather conditions. That data will allow them to develop an accurate atmospheric model to study the effects of measures to lessen the heat impact on downwind neighborhoods.

Full article here.
– – –
Image: Skyline view of Phoenix, AZ [credit: DPPed @ Wikipedia]