This time two new forces \u2014 the rise of AI and data centers, as well as higher fossil fuel prices from wars in Iran and Ukraine \u2014 should change the discussion, experts and activists said. That\u2019s on top of climate-driven disasters recently reaching new levels of destruction in Asia<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cPatient Earth is not well,\u201d said Johan Rockstr\u00f6m, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. \u201cWe are not only putting the stability, the resilience, and the life support systems on Earth at risk, we are very close to pushing ourselves across thresholds that can lead to irreversible, unmanageable outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n A new report released Monday by the institute\u2019s Planetary Boundaries Science Lab found that the world has breached seven of nine science-determined planetary boundaries for a healthy globe.<\/p>\n United Kingdom Secretary of State Edward Miliband said that transitioning to cleaner and renewable energy is now a \u201cnational security imperative.\u201d<\/p>\n The climate breakdown \u201cmust be an issue for foreign ministers and prime ministers. As well as energy and climate ministers. The security community, not just the activist community. The generals, not just the green campaigners,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Rising prices drive concerns<\/p>\n Climate change is \u201cdriving up food prices and wider inflation\u201d and fossil fuel dependence is hitting billions of people around the world at the fuel pump<\/a>, said U.N. climate chief Simon Stiell on Monday.<\/p>\n Rising prices have sparked protests in Asia<\/a> and Africa<\/a>, which were hit first and hardest by energy shortages<\/a> due to the Iran war<\/a>. In the U.S., consumer confidence<\/a> is plunging and gas prices have reached record highs<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Iran war energy shock has cost U.S. consumers more than $100 billion in higher fuel prices, Stiell said.<\/p>\n There are two parallel climate stories playing out at the moment, explained Mohamed Adow, director of Power Shift Africa. The first story is extremely hopeful, with renewable energy booming, technology improving and the economics of clean energy making more and more sense. The second story is terrifying, with climate impacts accelerating faster than political and financial systems can respond, Adow said.<\/p>\n \u201cNew York needs to bring those two stories together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n FILE \u2013 Meta data centers operate Sept. 5, 2026, near Social Circle, Ga. (AP Photo\/Mike Stewart, File)\n<\/p>\n FILE \u2013 A man rides past an operating oil pumpjack in Cabimas, Venezuela, Aug. 31, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ariana Cubillos, File)\n<\/p>\n FILE \u2013 American Electric Power\u2019s John Amos coal-fired power plant operates in Winfield, W.Va., across the Kanawha River from Poca, W.Va., March 22, 2026. (AP Photo\/Carolyn Kaster, File)\n<\/p>\n FILE \u2013 A barge is fully loaded with coal on the Mahakam River in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, Aug. 19, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ahmad Mulia Panjaitan, File)\n<\/p>\n FILE \u2013 Residents pull a newly installed zipline to help people commute across the Trishuli River in the aftermath of floods at Bidur in Nepal\u2019s Nuwakot district, Nepal, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo\/Rajesh Kumar Singh, File)\n<\/p>\n Show Caption<\/p>\n 1 of 5<\/p>\n FILE \u2013 Meta data centers operate Sept. 5, 2026, near Social Circle, Ga. (AP Photo\/Mike Stewart, File)\n<\/p>\n Expand<\/a> The environmental footprint of AI and data centers is \u201cvery much a hot topic,\u201d said Helen Clarkson, CEO of the nonprofit Climate Group, which organizes New York Climate Week.<\/p>\n Attendees have so far expressed both hopes and fears for the future of AI and its role in combating climate change, she said.<\/p>\n \u201c Energy-guzzling artificial intelligence<\/a> is driving up planet-heating pollution from coal, oil and gas while ratcheting up energy costs for households and businesses,\u201d said Stiell with the U.N. \u201cAI leaders are now on thin ice when it comes to license to operate, and sinking deep underwater when it comes to public support.\u201d<\/p>\n On the other hand, Eva Riesenhuber, the head of sustainability at the German automation company Siemens, and Evelyn Wang, vice president for energy and climate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said AI is too important to humanity and will help tackle climate change.<\/p>\n Data centers adding to climate and water problems \u201cis not forever,\u201d according to Wang, who told The Associated Press that data centers are five years away from being water neutral and about a decade away from no longer adding to planet-warming emissions.<\/p>\n Acknowledging these concerns, Riesenhuber said \u201cwe are racing to mitigate this as fast as possible because we are hooked on the intelligence, and we do need the intelligence to design the future that this planet needs.\u201d<\/p>\n There will be several AI-related protests throughout New York Climate Week.<\/p>\n Turkey, which is running UN climate negotiations<\/a> this November, recently announced a new pledge for nations to join to manage the powering and deployment of AI, though no further details were offered.<\/p>\n The AI issue may mean construction in people\u2019s backyards, which reaches those who are less worried about climate change, according to Jennifer Morgan, an analyst at The Fletcher School at Tufts University, who said that AI is becoming more vilified in climate talks than the fossil fuel industry.<\/p>\n World leaders to discuss renewable rollout<\/p>\n The world can still meet its 2023 goal<\/a> of tripling renewable power capacity by the end of the decade, but it must move much faster, according to a new report released Monday.<\/p>\n Despite record growth in renewables<\/a> last year, the world must build more renewable power capacity from 2026 to 2030 than in all previous years combined, stated the report by the International Renewable Energy Agency, the Global Renewables Alliance and Turkey.<\/p>\n The amount of renewable power added globally peaked at 693 gigawatts<\/a> in 2025, about half the installed power in the U.S., IRENA found. At the same time, there was a sharp rebound of fossil fuels when compared to 2024 driven by China adding coal power<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe journey so far on renewables is remarkable,\u201d Rockstr\u00f6m said.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, Rockstr\u00f6m said, renewables are meeting a growing demand for electricity but not \u201cbending the curve\u201d to reduce oil, coal or gas use \u2014 which is necessary to cut carbon pollution and meet climate targets.<\/p>\n Paradoxically, military action waged by U.S. President Donald Trump in Venezuela and Iran and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Ukraine \u2014 both big fossil fuel advocates \u2014 have caused oil and gas shortages that have driven up prices, spurring countries to switch to renewables faster, he explained.<\/p>\n Associated Press reporter Anton L. Delgado in New York contributed to this report.<\/p>\n The Associated Press\u2019 climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP\u2019s standards<\/a> for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BY SETH BORENSTEIN and JENNIFER McDERMOTT NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 As scientists calculated that Earth is getting sicker,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":352927,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3250,7443,2053,9,11,10,95385],"class_list":["post-352926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-ai","tag-climate-change","tag-data-centers","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-wars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Meta](\"https:\/\/www.republicanherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Climate_New_York_Climate_Week_AI_99831.jpg?w=620\")
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\nAI and data centers take the limelight<\/p>\n