Water scarcity is rising up the agenda as one of the major concerns for datacenters in Europe following an unusually hot and dry summer, marked by intense heatwaves in southern parts of the continent.

While much attention has focused on the soaring energy consumption of bit barns due to factors such as higher-density infrastructure used for AI training, the availability of water for cooling is now what's worrying operators, according to data analytics and consulting biz GlobalData .

Google games numbers to make AI look less thirsty

Climate change has disrupted normal weather patterns, making wildfires and flash floods more common, while the parched and baked ground can result in less rainwater getting absorbed into aquifers.

"Climate change also means that the requirement for water to

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