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  • Hacker News
  • Google’s web page about the Muhos data center referenced in the article: https://datacenters.google/locations/muhos/
    by andsoitis
  • Ugly. They had the resources to make it beautiful and part of the environment instead they bulldozed it

    Founders need to speak on this. If they've got time to get in the weeds on gemini, they've got time for this

    by redanddead
  • This article seems like pretty typical Guardian clickbait and "data center hysteria". It isn't Google who is responsible; it is the primary contractor: Tuike Finland Oy.

    Also, if this forest was being cut down to build an organic vegetable farm or preschool or petting zoo, would we be seeing the same headline? Not a chance in hell. This part is the most egregious reach to me:

        > The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation said the sites had been reduced to “sand”
    Cry me a river. Would you say the same if it wasn't a data center? And, is this land environmentally important or sensitive? Again, no information given; only hysteria.
    by throwaway2037
  • > Google said in a statement “we understand the concerns” and that it had “fallen short of our own high standards”.

    Apple said the same rhetorical non-apology apologetically, recently... about something??

    by ncr100
  • I think local governments should be regulating and zoning new data center construction in a way that forces them to rehabilitate old industrial brownfields. There’s plenty of land already spoiled by human activity that can be reused. No reason to be cleaning nature for a warehouse full of computers that could be built anywhere.
    by cattown
  • > Google said in a statement “we understand the concerns” and that it had “fallen short of our own high standards”.

    But it wasn't their own high standards, it was a legal obligation that they neglected?

    I hope in vain that the powers that be are able to punish them in a way they will actually feel...

    by monk_grilla
  • "Forest" is a polite way to refer to what appears to be a monoculture plantation. To restore the land properly it would probably be necessary to remove 80%+ of the trees to make space for seeding or planting a diverse range of other species. Possibly 100% if the monoculture species already planted is not endemic.

    Google street view imagery of the site showing logging completed by June 2026 and logs waiting collection: [1]

    Sentinel-2 L2A imagery from 2026-10-11 showing the logged area: [2]

    [1] https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/91500+Tahvola,+Finland/...

    [2] https://browser.dataspace.copernicus.eu/?zoom=15&lat=64.8369...

    by dhx

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