Riders on the Storm: The Climate Crisis and the Survival of Being with Alastair McIntosh

Alastair will talk about his forthcoming book Riders on the Storm: The Climate Crisis and the Survival of Being, which explores the science, psychology and spirituality of climate change.

He summarises the up-to-date science and shows the damage caused both by climate-change denial as well as exaggeration. In outlining the technological and policy options to cut greenhouse gases, he argues that neither will be anywhere near sufficient unless we grasp the ‘twin drivers’ – namely, world population and excess consumption – in ways that deepen people’s dignity and freedom.

This book’s enduring importance will lie in the uniqueness of the remedies proposed: our urgent need to reconnect with the earth, to build community, and own inner lives of depth psychology and even spirituality. This transforms climate change into a chance to discover deeper aspects of our humanity. The result is a scintillating guide to what it takes to make us riders on the storm.

Speaker: Alastair McIntosh

Alastair McIntosh is an independent writer, broadcaster, speaker and activist who is involved in a wide range of contemporary issues, from land reform, globalization and nonviolence to psychology, spirituality and ecology. He is the author of over 10 books, including: Hell and High Water: Climate Change, Hope and the Human Condition (2008), and Poacher’s Pilgrimage: An Island Journey (2018).

Riders on the Storm: The Climate Crisis and the Survival of Being is published in August 2020 and will be available to purchase from here.

Host: Sally & Jean-Paul Jeanrenaud, The Fintry Trust. There will be time for Q & A towards the end of the session. The session will be by Pro Zoom invitation and will be recorded.

Ticket: Make a Donation (suggested price £10). Proceeds go towards the educational work of the Fintry Trust.

See all events in the Harmony Guest Speaker Series.

Photograph: By Vérène NicolasOuter Hebrides, 2015, looking west from N Uist towards the Isle of Boreray