Sower's favourite things from June

Hey Sowers,

The heatwave that hit Berlin last week broke record temperatures for the city, and it was my first experience of an extreme weather event made possible by the climate crisis. I spent the entire weekend at home with heavy blankets on the windows, ice packs against my neck, underarms, and groin. Rising global temperatures had always been some abstract concept to me that didn’t really directly impact my life. For the first time ever, I actually feel some level of anxiety about what's coming in the future.

That anxiety isn’t, however, something that shuts me down. It energises me. Experiencing such a climate extreme has given me a newfound appreciation for the fact that I have to do everything in my power to stop the ongoing climate and ecological crises. My philosophy has always been to do what is possible within the realms of who I am and my skillset, and I can at least be at peace with myself whatever the outcome.

I encourage everyone who felt concerned during the heatwave to consider the actions they could take in their own life. Taken from last week's article on leveraging your agency for climate action, there’s a wonderful tool you can use (SHIFT) to determine how you could potentially have the largest climate impact. The best time to act was decades ago, but it’s never too late for any of us to change the course of our society. Every little really does help.

Heat seems to be a common theme threading through our choices for this month’s roundup. While higher temperatures can be destructive, they can also create something new entirely. In the same way the heat has strengthened my resolve, perhaps you’ll find something in our curated list which Libby has graciously put together.

Before that, I just wanted to note that I’ll be taking the final week of July off and so we probably won’t be sending a newsletter that week. 

Speak soon,
Jack