‘Slough is like an experiment’: Europe’s largest datacentre hub leaves town sweltering
Residents of Slough, UK, are reporting extreme heat conditions exacerbated by the town's status as a major European datacentre hub. Research suggests that the cooling systems required for high-density computing infrastructure create a localized heat island effect.
Why it matters
As AI and cloud computing demand grows, the environmental impact of physical infrastructure on local communities is becoming a significant urban planning and climate concern.
A datacentre in Slough. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian View image in fullscreen A datacentre in Slough. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian Extreme heat ‘Slough is like an experiment’: Europe’s largest datacentre hub leaves town sweltering Emerging research suggests datacentres create a heat island effect, pushing up temperatures in the immediate vicinity by as much as 9C
The article focuses on the negative environmental and social impacts of corporate industrial sprawl, which is a common framing in environmental journalism.
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