Generative AI can do a lot of things: create art, write an essay and even draft an obnoxious or dreaded text. Generative AI, however, can also fundamentally change and wreck the environment.
Although AI can help individuals with some of the harder tasks of life, like writing an email, the excessive use of generative AI has had a detrimental impact on the environment.
The demand for generative AI has been increasing, with both businesses and individuals making the switch to use more AI.
In a survey conducted by Gallup in 2025, researchers found that close to 40% of workers within the United States use AI multiple times a year, with around 19% of workers using it multiple times a week. These numbers have almost doubled since 2023.
Due to the massive increase in demand, different companies have stepped up across the country, beginning construction on hundreds of data centers in the past year.
In Cleveland, there are currently more than twenty data centers within 15 miles of Lake Erie, and more companies are beginning to invest in the region. This poses a great risk for the region, as even just a medium-sized data center uses close to 110 million gallons of water per year.
Although Lake Erie has 127.7 trillion gallons of water, the sheer number of data centers located near the lake could cause this number to decrease significantly.
Lake Erie, along with the rest of the Great Lakes, make up roughly 21% of the worlds’ freshwater. Subsequently, around 10% of the U.S. population relies on the lakes for their drinking water. In addition to the rise of mass drought due to climate change, that number is likely to increase.
Across the nation as well, due to both climate change and the human need for water, water is of dire importance. The Great Lakes supply people all across the Midwest and parts of Canada with drinking water.
The data centers are also reported to contaminate the water with mass amounts of sediment, leading to concern in areas surrounding the region. The lakes are already being contaminated with farm runoff, leading to a rise in both algae blooms and the decline of many fish species. Data centers are likely to exacerbate this issue.
Without the Great Lakes, life would be significantly different in the Midwest. Even at GlenOak, things would be much different. Without them, there could be mass water shortages as well as policies limiting agriculture or limiting personal water usage during periods of drought. Industries would change, cities and species alike would die.
We are fortunate to live near the Great Lakes, but we must not take their closeness and accessibility for granted. Right now, it is more imperative than ever that we protect our land and resources, and putting in mass data centers will only make this harder.
