Climate and environment updates: How planet's climate changed since first Earth Day

Artificial intelligence is growing at a meteoric rate, requiring a larger share of the world's energy. Powering AI is a vast infrastructure of data centers, cloud networks and computing systems that are fueling a growing energy demand.

In a first-of-its-kind comprehensive report on AI and energy, the International Energy Agency said the global expansion of AI data centers is likely to drive some of the fastest growth in global electricity demand seen in recent years.

"With the rise of AI, the energy sector is at the forefront of one of the most important technological revolutions of our time," IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said.

The IEA projects electricity demand from global data centers will more than double over the next five years and, by 2030, consume as much as the nation of Japan does today.

According to the report, data centers in the United States are likely to account for almost half of the growth in electricity demand. The report emphasizes that by 2030, the U.S. economy will use more electricity for data processing than for producing all energy-intensive goods combined, such as steel, aluminum, cement and chemicals.

Despite concerns over rising global energy demand, the IEA said their analysis shows positive impacts, like increased productivity, enhanced competitiveness and cost reductions, could outweigh the negative effects. In fact, the growth of AI in the energy sector could even help reduce global energy-related emissions, a reduction that could be far larger than new emissions from data centers, the report found.

While a mix of energy sources will be needed to meet the world's growing data center electricity demands, renewable sources are expected to supply roughly half of the global demand growth over the next five years, according to the report. Data centers may also serve as hubs for new low-emission energy projects. And as AI becomes more integrated into scientific research, the IEA said it could help accelerate innovation in energy technologies such as batteries and solar PV.

For example, leaks are a significant source of methane emissions in oil and gas production. The report said AI can facilitate rapid leak detection so that repairs happen sooner, limiting total emissions. AI could also help reduce transportation-related emissions by choosing the most efficient travel routes in real time, according to the report.

-ABC News meteorologist Dan Peck

It has been an active start to the severe weather season. According to a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. tornado activity in March was more than twice the monthly average, with over 200 tornadoes recorded.

This trend continued through the first week of April, with more than 150 tornado reports across the South and Midwest during a devastating multi-day stretch of life-threatening weather conditions.

The report also highlighted notable temperature and precipitation trends nationwide in March. Last month, the average temperature of the contiguous U.S. was 46.9 degrees Fahrenheit, more than 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit above average. That ranked last month as the nation's sixth warmest March on record. Above-average to way above-average temperatures were observed across most of the Lower 48, except for parts of California and the Southeast.

Precipitation was below average across much of the Plains and South in March, which brought expanding and intensifying drought conditions to states like Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. Persistently dry conditions also kept a drought in place across much of the Carolinas, fueling the destructive wildfires that ravaged both states last month.

North Carolina experienced its driest March since 2016, and South Carolina has had its driest first three months of the year in nearly 40 years. The extremely dry conditions were a primary contributor to the rapid spread of the flames, which was exacerbated by the millions of downed trees in the region due to Hurricane Helene last fall. This created an abundance of dry fuel, allowing wildfires to explode in size. Drought conditions are likely to persist across the Carolinas through the end of the month.

According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor report released on April 1, about 43.4% of the contiguous U.S. is experiencing drought.

-ABC News meteorologist Dan Peck

Last month was the second-warmest March on record globally, according to new data analyzed by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). And once again, the planet exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius, as established by the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, coming in slightly above that at 1.6 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average (1850-1900).

Last month marked the 20th of the previous 21 months to exceed the warming threshold established in the Agreement. The 1.5-degree ceiling was established because scientists and international climate organizations say limiting global temperatures to that level significantly reduces the risks and impacts of climate change.

It is important to note that exceeding the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold temporarily is not seen as a failure to limit warming under the Agreement since it looks at the climate average over multiple decades. Still, the trend is concerning.

The planet may have fallen just short of breaking another global temperature record for March, but Europe soared to a new record. The March average temperature over that continent was 2.41 degrees Celsius, or 4.34 degrees Fahrenheit, above the 1991-2020 average for the month, making it the warmest March on record.

Globally, the average surface air temperature was 14.06 degrees Celsius, or 57.31 degrees Fahrenheit.

Global daily sea surface temperatures across most of the world’s oceans remain well above average, including across the Atlantic Basin. The report found that the average global sea surface temperature for March 2025 was 69.73 degrees Fahrenheit, the second-highest value on record for the month.

Unusually warm sea surface temperatures could once again play a major role in tropical cyclone development during the upcoming Atlantic Hurricane Season, which begins on June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will release its official outlook for the forthcoming season later next month.

Arctic sea ice extent dipped to its lowest value on record for the month of March at 6% below average. This was the fourth straight month with record-low ice cover for the corresponding month. Antarctic sea ice extent was 24% below average for the month, according to Copernicus.

-ABC News meteorologist Dan Peck

Hurricanes Beryl, Helen and Milton were so deadly and destructive that the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says it will never use those names again.

During the hurricane committee's annual meeting earlier this week, the group decided that names from the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season will no longer be used for future tropical storms and hurricanes. Beryl, Helen and Milton join Katrina, Sandy, Maria and Harvey on the retired list.

The WMO's Hurricane Committee is responsible for the tropical cyclone name lists. It's the first time since 2020 that three names have been retired from the previous Atlantic Basin season. The list of names for tropical storms and hurricanes repeat every six years. In 2030, Beryl, Helene, and Milton will be replaced by Brianna, Holly and Miguel. Helene had been on the rotating list since 1958.

On July 2, Hurricane Beryl became the earliest Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic basin on record and significantly impacted several Caribbean Islands as it marched west as a major hurricane. The storm also affected Jamaica, the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, and made a final landfall as a category one hurricane along the Texas Gulf Coast on July 8.

Helene became the deadliest continental U.S. hurricane since Katrina in 2005, killing more than 200 people after making landfall as the strongest hurricane on record to strike Florida's Big Bend region on Sept. 26. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimates Helene caused nearly $79 billion in damages in the U.S.

Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm in western Florida on Oct. 9, affecting many of the same areas hit by Helene two weeks prior. Milton caused multiple storm-related fatalities and an estimated $34.3 billion in damages in the U.S.

The Atlantic hurricane season begins on June 1, with NOAA releasing its official outlook for the upcoming season next month.

-ABC News meteorologist Dan Peck