The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence has generated an environmental footprint in 2025 comparable to that of New York City, according to new research that raises concerns about the climate and water impact of the technology.
The study, published Wednesday in the academic journal Patterns, estimates that AI-related activity released up to 80 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2025, roughly equivalent to more than 8% of global aviation emissions. The research also found that AI systems consumed about 765 billion litres of water, exceeding total global bottled water demand. pasted
The findings were compiled by Alex de Vries-Gao, founder of Digiconomist, which studies the unintended consequences of digital technologies. He said the research represents the first attempt to isolate the environmental impact of artificial intelligence itself, rather than data centres as a whole, as usage of tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini surged during the year.
“The environmental cost of this is pretty huge in absolute terms,” de Vries-Gao said, adding that society currently absorbs those costs while technology companies benefit economically. He called for stricter transparency requirements around the climate impact of AI systems. pasted
The study relied on public reporting from technology companies, though de Vries-Gao noted that disclosures often remain insufficient to fully assess energy and water use linked to AI. He cited recent reporting from Google that did not account for water used in electricity generation for its Gemini AI model. pasted
The International Energy Agency has previously warned that AI-focused data centres can draw as much electricity as aluminium smelters, and that global data centre power demand could more than double by 2030. The agency estimates that the largest facilities under construction today each consume as much electricity as 2 million households. pasted
Environmental groups say the figures underscore a growing imbalance between the benefits of AI innovation and its environmental costs. In the UK alone, between 100 and 200 large-scale data centres are currently in the planning system, with individual facilities capable of generating emissions comparable to several international airports. pasted
Technology companies have acknowledged the challenge. Google reported a 12% reduction in data centre energy emissions in 2024 due to new clean energy sources, but said this year that meeting its climate targets has become increasingly complex because of slower deployment of carbon-free energy technologies.
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