Artificial intelligence is becoming not only a technological breakthrough but also a new environmental challenge. The international White Paper on: AI and Environment, prepared by experts from the Russian "Priroda i lyudi" Foundation in cooperation with Fudan University (China) and Pahle India Foundation (India), revealed the scale of AI's impact on the environment.

According to Levon Azizyan, Director of Armhydrometcenter, in 2025, carbon dioxide emissions associated with the operation of artificial intelligence systems ranged from 32.6 to 79.7 million tons. This volume is comparable to the annual emissions of a metropolis like New York.

Another serious problem is water consumption. Cooling AI data center servers in 2025 required 312 to 765 billion liters of fresh water — roughly the same amount humanity drinks annually in bottled water.

Experts warn that by 2027, water consumption by AI-powered data centers could rise to nearly half of the UK's annual consumption. Moreover, many large computing complexes are located in regions already experiencing fresh water shortages, increasing the burden on local resources.