What on earth is happening? We’re getting some major flux changes in the weather here in the Washington D.C. area. Last week, we went from a warm, summer of 80°F all the way down to a breezy, cold 30°F in the same day! This Monday, we’re supposed to get some tornadoes in the DMV area as a mega-thunderstorm hits the area. 🌪

Speaking of storms, that’s not the only thing that’s in turmoil right now. Energy markets are buzzing with anxiety and excitement as the Iran conflict continues on Day 17 as of March 16. I’m not an energy analyst by any means, but from what I understand, we haven’t even started seeing the full impact of rising oil prices on everything from groceries to other commodities of the AI supply chain.

The Strait of Hormuz apparently has 20% of the world’s crude oil supply flowing through it on huge tankers. In addition, natural gas and other commodities go through the strait as well. We’ll have to see what further developments unfold this week.

Some interesting articles of the week:

Caio! 👋

Nate

AI Scaling Pathways: On Grid, On Edge, Off Grid, Off Planet (AI & Energy): As demand for data center power skyrockets, available options to provide that power have dwindled. Shayle speaks with Jake Elder of Energy Impact Partners about four main generation solutions and considers the viability of each in the years to come.

We Have A Power Grid Problem. Can AI Fix It? (AI & Environment): In conversation with Pioneers of AI host Rana el Kaliouby, MIT Assistant Professor Priya Donti explains why she believes AI can play a critical role in the fight against climate change — though she's quick to say it's no silver bullet.

Episode 907: Amy Harder on the New Rules of Power (AI & Energy): From Davos to data centers, Axios national energy correspondent Amy Harder breaks down the new rules of power at the intersection of energy, climate, and policy.

Reviewing the Socio-Technical Dynamics of AI, Data Centers, and Digitalization on Energy and the Environment (AI & Data Centers/Hardware/Models): This paper examines over 70 low- and zero-carbon technologies that can reduce AI and data centers' energy footprint, finding energy reductions ranging from 13–94%, but identifying barriers that require policy solutions like carbon pricing and mandatory energy reporting to overcome.

AI Expands High-Quality Urban Flash Floods Forecasts Globally (AI & Geospatial Analysis): An AI-based global urban flash flood prediction system trained on ground truth data extracted from millions of news articles now provides free real-time forecasts across over 150 countries, addressing the critical gap in early warning systems for the Global South.

Developer Engagement in Open-Source Software's Green Transition (AI & Data Centers/Hardware/Models): Software development plays a central role in digital sustainability, yet developers' role and engagement remains understudied. The findings highlight the role of developer discourse in shaping sustainable software ecosystems and integrating sustainability into open-source development.

AI and the Grid: Unlocking the Potential of Artificial Intelligence for Electric Utilities (AI & Energy): Gridwise Alliance explores how AI can transform electric utility operations, from grid management to demand forecasting.

Labor Market Impacts of AI: A New Measure and Early Evidence (AI & Economic Transformation): Anthropic presents a new measure and early evidence on how AI is reshaping labor markets and workforce dynamics.

Forecasting Large Loads in the Age of AI and Data Centers (AI & Infrastructure): Energy + Environmental Economics examines the challenge of forecasting unprecedented electricity demand growth driven by AI and data center buildout.

What I Wish I Knew When I Started with GreenIT (AI & Digital & Cloud Sustainability): Ludi Akue discusses how the tech sector's rising emissions impact our global climate goals, sharing seven key lessons for implementing Green IT including LCA assessments and the paradox of microservices.

Identifying and Gathering Data on Data Centers Workshop (AI & Infrastructure): Collaborative online workshop on identifying and gathering data on data centers — the road to a new digital common.

What the Research Says About Green IT Solutions, with Gauthier Roussilhe (AI & Digital & Cloud Sustainability): On Green IO, Gauthier Roussilhe takes us on a deep dive into the findings of one of his latest environmental studies and explains why we need to embrace a counter-intuitive approach when looking at the data.

.Environmental Reporting Collective (AI & Environment): ERC is a network of journalists and newsrooms, all dedicated to investigating environmental crimes collaboratively.

Nebius (AI & Infrastructure): The Nebius AI Cloud brings powerful full-stack infrastructure for AI developers and practitioners across startups, enterprises and science institutes to build and deploy generative AI applications.

Blue Convergence Fund (AI & Ocean Science): Dedicated to funding research and outreach that drives innovative policy solutions in ocean sustainability, supporting grants and developing communities of practice on topics identified by the needs of coastal communities.

AI Job Loss Tracker (AI & Workforce Development): Newly reported layoffs where AI is either explicitly cited or credibly blamed as a material factor. Reporting window starts January 1, 2025.

Groundsource (AI & Geospatial Analysis): A new scalable methodology by Google that leverages Gemini to transform unstructured global news into actionable, historical data. The first open-access Groundsource dataset for urban flash floods comprises 2.6 million records.

GPU Embedded Impacts Calculator (AI & Sustainability): This calculator estimates the embedded impacts of a graphics card based on 16 Product Environmental Footprint impact criteria. Based on the parametric model developed for ADEME by Tide and Hubblo.

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Thanks for reading the 32nd issue of The Climate Code! It means a lot to me and we have more coming in the future, so definitely stick around! 💚

Nate

P.S.

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