African data centres and Climate Change
It is a little known fact that the Internet is one of the largest contributors of carbon emissions. ( http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/aug/12/carbon-footprint-internet ) Today 9/21/2014 [1] is a significant date in the climate change calendar, being the largest climate march in history ( http://peoplesclimate.org ) It is a day when awareness of the impact of global warming will perhaps reach a critical mass and the decision-makers will finally wake up. How many more Katrina’s, Sandy’s or Haiyan’s will it take to shock the hardcore minority ( denialist’s and their patrons – i.e. the fossil fuel industry ) into realising that it can no longer be “business as usual”. I work in the Internet industry – building data centres. Our work is in Africa where the potential (negative) impact of climate change could be the highest of any region in the World. As local weather patterns change, such as the decline in rainfall in the Sahel (particularly Sudan)