California data center health impacts tripled in 4 years

Researchers from the University of California, Riverside found that health impacts from California data centers have tripled from 2019 to 2023, and could rise by 72% more by 2028 without mitigation policies. Electricity consumption by data centers has nearly doubled in the same period, and projections show it could exceed 3 times 2019 levels by 2028. The report recommends actions like phasing out diesel generators, improving data transparency, and setting emissions standards to prioritize clean power and minimize health impacts. Data centers also consume large volumes of fresh water, enough to fill 20,000 Olympic pools annually by 2028. The researchers noted limited public data on the environmental footprint of co-location data centers in the state.