They're not more relevant, but they are equally relevant.

This is adding the ocean as a new layer in the overall heat dissipation stack for datacenter computing; it's impacting a whole new ecosystem that it wasn't before. Thus, we need to be asking these kinds of questions about how this will impact oceanic ecosystems.

It is adding... the question is how much compared to natural systems that add heat to the oceans already (in addition to sunlight, thermal vents, oceanic fissures, underwater volcanoes, etc.) is it significant or is it insignificant?

> is it significant or is it insignificant

Then a study (ideally multiple studies) should be commissioned to find this out. We shouldn't just do it because we can, and because armchair physicists are pretty sure that it's insignificant.

Because, that's what Microsoft (and their partner) did. They did it because they could.

Remember when we, as a global society, believed that CFCs would have an insignificant impact on the environment? I do. Perhaps we should tread a bit more lightly when we're already running into species extinction and global climate change issues.

I doubt these would add more heat than a single new volcano does, but I’m all ears. According to research[1] tectonic activity adds about 3 cubic km of magma/lava each year to the oceans (that’s 100 times the annual production by mauna loa.)

[1] http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/book/export/html/138

This sounds a whole lot like the "global warming couldn't possibly be our fault (because: volcanoes) so let's not change anything" line of thinking, just applied to oceans instead of the atmosphere.

In which case, we'll just end up talking past each other, so I'll wish you a good day.

This is only heat. Unless it’s releasing unbeknownst to me greenhouse liquids or gasses, it’s not the same argument.

Sounds like a good ~2050 startup, a company that plugs volcanoes to sell green credits for underwater server farms ;)

Unfortunately for their scheme magma would find a weakness in the crust somewhere...

They're not? People have asked these questions for decades, hence why they're exploring new options....