#sunburntplanet

okay so real talk — is it just me or is the sun beefing with us this summer?? like, i went outside and instantly turned into a sweat puddle. fans are useless, a/c is EXPENSIVE, and honestly i’d rather chill in a walk-in freezer than deal with this heat.

but here's the thing: this isn’t just "ugh summer is gross" — this is climate change, and spoiler alert: we're kinda all part of it.

see, the planet’s heating up because of greenhouse gases (like carbon dioxide and methane) we’ve been pumping into the atmosphere for decades. and yeah, cars and factories are big players, but here’s the kicker: it’s the whole economy that’s behind it.

our economy runs on this idea that we always need more — more products, more money, more growth. and that means companies are constantly burning fossil fuels, chopping down forests, and mass-producing stuff that ends up in landfills. fast fashion? runs on sweatshops and oil. those 2-day shipping sprees? burn tons of fuel. even our food system — full of processed snacks and factory-farmed meat — is a massive contributor to emissions.

we’re so used to this “buy more, toss more” lifestyle that we don’t even think about it. but the stuff we see as normal — weekly hauls, upgrading our phones every year, cheap $5 shirts — all of that feeds into a system that’s literally cooking the planet.

and the wild part? the people paying the price aren’t the CEOs in corner offices — it’s everyday folks, especially in lower-income areas and countries that are already dealing with floods, droughts, wildfires, and power outages. all because rich corporations won’t stop chasing profits.

but here's the hopeful part: we’re not powerless.

you can’t fix the whole system on your own (and you shouldn’t have to), but small changes still matter:

thrift your clothes instead of buying fast fashion

support local or sustainable businesses when you can

eat less meat (even one veggie meal a week helps)

vote for leaders who actually get climate policy

call out greenwashing when you see it

talk about it — awareness spreads change

basically: the more we question the "normal" stuff that’s actually harming the planet, the more pressure we can put on the people who can change the system.

so yeah, it’s hot. but it’s not just the weather — it’s the economy running wild. and we deserve better.

stay cool (literally and figuratively), SOURCES:

Attenborough, David, and Christine Lagarde. “Nature, Climate Change and the Global Economy.” Finance & Development, International Monetary Fund, Dec. 2019, https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2019/12/nature-climate-and-the-global-economy-lagarde-attenborough.

“Economics of Climate Change.” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 5 Aug. 2024, https://www.epa.gov/environmental-economics/economics-climate-change.

Kaplan, Sarah, et al. “June Is the New July: Why Intense Summer Heat Is Arriving Earlier.” The Washington Post, 25 June 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/06/25/global-heatwave-climate-change.

Reyes, Marisa. “Millions of U.S. Kids Attend Schools in 'Urban Heat Zones.'” Axios, 30 June 2025, https://www.axios.com/2025/06/30/students-schools-urban-heat-islands.

“Reuters Explains: What Is a ‘Heat Dome’ and How Does It Power Heatwaves?” Reuters, 30 June 2025, https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/cop/what-is-heat-dome-how-does-it-power-heatwaves-2025-06-30.