Data center operators have long planned for some climate risks, but climate change is increasing the odds of extreme events and throwing new ones into the mix.AWS says it selects center locations to minimize the risks posed by flooding and extreme weather and relies on technology like automatic sensors, responsive equipment, and both water- and fire-detecting devices to protect them once they’re built.And just this year, Google and Oracle's data centers experienced cooling system failures amid record heat in the U.K. To account for these risks, Uptime encourages companies to spread workloads between data centers and regions; if a storm hits Florida, a provider should have infrastructure out-of-state so service can continue without pause, which happened during Hurricane Ian last month.“Climate risks are an integral part of our due diligence process during site selection, with flood risk, wind risk, water stress and extreme temperatures considered prior to acquiring the site mitigation measures are considered during the design process.” [W]e’ve been really emphasizing that this is coming … You’re better off being in front of it than behind it.” Major enterprise operations may have no choice but to take some of these steps, given policy changes underway in Europe and the U.S.The EU’s corporate sustainability reporting directive, which will come into effect in 2023, requires large companies operating on the continent to disclose their exposure to various risks, including climate change."