Farming in extreme heat showed me climate change is real. Changing my lifestyle is harder [Video]

This First Person column is written by Anna Helmer, a potato farmer in Pemberton, B.C. For more information about CBC’s First Person stories, please see the FAQ.

I knew right away it was a newt. The sucking, or rather, clenching sensation on my skin had become a surprisingly familiar sensation, given all the amphibians also seeking to reduce their body temperature on this extraordinarily hot day in our watering hole.  

The first time I sensed it as I floated, I absentmindedly felt up my leg for the cause of that curious feeling. I was shocked when I found the slimy, bright green creature. I tore it off and flung it far away with surely unsurvivable vehemence. 

I regret doing that as later I learned it was likely endangered.

This was in the …