You take an Uber, buy a new outfit, order food through an app, turn on the air conditioning and plan your next vacation. None of these things seems to have any connection to a glacier on the other side of the world. But, in different ways, they are all part of the same system that is heating the planet.
It is very important to reflect on how the actions of large companies and national representatives can affect the environment and directly contribute to glacier melting. But have you ever stopped to think about how our own lifestyle can influence it?
WHY GLACIERS MATTER AND WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING TO THEM IN RECENT YEARS?
In addition to contributing to the beauty of natural landscapes, glaciers hold around 70% of the world’s freshwater. They are essential to the annual hydrological cycle and provide drinking water, irrigate crops and help generate electricity for people who live in their vicinity.
The melting of the polar ice caps is a phenomenon caused by the increase in global temperature due to the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. It is not an isolated process that only happens in the Arctic. In fact, it is related to a global system of production, consumption, transportation and energy generation.
A 2026 study published in Scientific Data estimated that the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets lost around 11.3 trillion tonnes of ice over more than four decades. This amount would be enough to cover the entire territory of Brazil with a layer of approximately 1.3 meters of water.
WHERE DO WE COME INTO THIS STORY?
Many of the emissions responsible for the increase in the greenhouse effect are linked to energy production, industry, transportation, agriculture and other human activities. We participate in this system when we consume products and use services that come from these sectors.
These activities may seem far from our daily lives, but they are present in almost everything we do.
The clothes we buy, the food on our plates, the cars and planes we use, and even the energy we consume are all part of production chains that generate emissions. All of this involves sourcing raw materials, manufacturing and the use of numerous resources.
This does not mean that a person who buys a blouse or takes a trip is individually responsible for the melting of a glacier. The accumulated impact of billions of people consuming products and services is the real problem.
At the same time, we cannot put all the responsibility on consumers. Companies, governments and economic sectors also play a key role in reducing emissions and transforming systems.
Still, understanding where the products we consume come from helps us realize that the climate crisis is not as far away as it seems. It is also related to the way we produce, buy, use and discard the things that are part of our daily lives.
And when we talk about consumption, there is an industry that deserves special attention: fashion.
FAST FASHION: WHEN TRENDS ALSO HAVE AN IMPACT
Clothes have never been so accessible, and trends have never changed so fast. With social media, a piece of clothing can go viral in a matter of hours and fade out of our feeds a few weeks later.
This pace has helped popularize so-called fast fashion, a model based on the rapid and large-scale production of clothing, usually sold at lower prices.
Behind a T-shirt, dress or a pair of pants, there are several steps before a piece reaches our closets. Raw material production, fabric manufacturing, dyeing, making, packaging and transportation are all part of this chain. The fashion industry also depends on large amounts of water, energy and raw materials.
The problem is not with a single piece of clothing. It appears when this model is reproduced on a massive scale, with collections being constantly released and consumers being encouraged to buy more clothing, more often.
Social media also helps speed up this cycle. A trend may emerge on TikTok or Instagram and, shortly afterward, be available in thousands of online stores. This creates an increasingly rapid sequence from trend to purchase to disposal. A piece that seemed indispensable today may be considered outdated a few months later.
That is why it is important to rethink the way we consume fashion. This does not mean abandoning clothing stores or avoiding new trends, but rather making better use of different pieces, extending their useful life and choosing them more consciously.
THE INFLUENCE OF CONSUMER CULTURE.
Videos of “hauls”, lists of favorite products and shopping content have transformed the act of buying into entertainment. What used to be just an order arriving at your home has now become a shared experience and, once again, a way to keep up with what is trending.
A garment, a cell phone or an object that was desired a few months ago can lose its appeal when a new trend appears.
In the end, the question may not be simply “What can we stop buying?”, but “Why do we feel we need to buy so much?”.
AND NOW, WHAT CAN WE DO?
Understanding the relationship between our habits and climate change does not mean that we need to completely abandon the things we like. The point is to start paying a little more attention to our consumption choices.
In fashion, we can look for more sustainable thrift stores and brands, exchange clothes with friends and family and find different ways to wear the pieces we own.
This also applies to other products. Think before buying something and ask yourself whether it is really worth it. But individual changes are not enough to solve an issue of this scale. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions also depends on companies, governments and public policies capable of transforming energy, transportation and production systems.
Therefore, perhaps the most important change is to stop seeing the climate crisis as a distant problem. Glaciers may be thousands of miles away from us, but they are part of the same climate system that sustains our lives.
The future of these icy landscapes does not depend on a single person or a single choice. It is linked to the collective decisions we make about how we produce, consume and use the planet’s resources.
It may not be possible to see a glacier melting while we are scrolling through TikTok or buying a new outfit. But understanding this connection is the first step toward realizing that, even when the ice seems far away, the climate crisis is not.
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The article above was edited by Julia Ide.
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