A new emissions tracker aims to highlight to communities and individuals the little-understood contribution local data centers are making to climate pollution.
Health and environmental advocates said the Data Center Air Pollution Tracker released Wednesday could help local residents understand the potential health risks of data center emissions and build pressure on the centers to cut their climate pollution.
“This tracker is so important because there are so many people who are increasingly being exposed to air pollution from data centers being built in their communities,” said Alice Chen, a medical doctor and board chair of the group Health Care Without Harm, which promotes reducing health care’s environmental impact. “If we have a better understanding of what is happening, we can mitigate the risk and inform communities.”
Grassroots environmental groups could use the tracker to raise awareness of the little-known emissions from data centers — and to make environmental considerations part of the global public debate about them.
