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Riders on the Storm: The Climate Crisis and the Survival of Being
Longlisted for the Wainwright Prize 2021 for Writing on Global Conservation
Climate change is the greatest challenge to humankind today. While the coronavirus sheds a light on the vulnerability of our interconnected world, the effects of global warming will be permanent, indeed catastrophic, without a massive shift in human behaviour.
Writer, scholar and broadcaster Alastair McIntosh sums up the present knowledge and shows that conventional solutions are not enough. In rejecting the blind alleys of climate change denial, exaggeration and false optimism, he offers a scintillating discussion of ways forward. Weaving together science, politics, psychology and spirituality, this guide examines what it takes to make us riders on the storm.
Climate change is the greatest challenge to humankind today. While the coronavirus sheds a light on the vulnerability of our interconnected world, the effects of global warming will be permanent, indeed catastrophic, without a massive shift in human behaviour.
Writer, scholar and broadcaster Alastair McIntosh sums up the present knowledge and shows that conventional solutions are not enough. In rejecting the blind alleys of climate change denial, exaggeration and false optimism, he offers a scintillating discussion of ways forward. Weaving together science, politics, psychology and spirituality, this guide examines what it takes to make us riders on the storm.
326 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 13, 2020
13 people are currently reading
114 people want to read
About the author
Alastair McIntosh
34 books51 followersAlastair McIntosh is an Isle of Lewis-raised writer, broadcaster and campaigning academic best known for his work on land reform on Eigg, in helping to stop the Harris superquarry; also for developing human ecology as an applied academic discipline in Scotland. He holds a degree of BSc in geography, submajoring in psychology and moral philosophy from the University of Aberdeen (1977), an MBA, specialising in finance, from the University of Edinburgh (1981) and a PhD by Published Works on liberation theology and contemporary Scottish land reform from the Academy of Irish Cultural Heritages at the University of Ulster (2008).
His book, "Soil and Soul" (Aurum Press, 2001), has been described as "No Logo in a Fair Isle jumper" by Susan Flockhart of the Sunday Herald, “world-changing” by George Monbiot, "life-changing" by the Bishop of Liverpool, and "truly mental" by musician Thom Yorke of Radiohead. Other books include a poetry collection, “Love and Revolution”, from Luath Pess (2006); “Hell and High Water: Climate Change, Hope and the Human Condition” – published by Birlinn in June 2008 and described by Michael Russell MSP, the Scottish Government’s Minister for the Environment, as “a profoundly important book”; and “Rekindling Community: Connecting People, Environment and Spirituality”, due in October 2008 as a Schumacher Briefing (Green Books) with endorsement and research funding from WWF International.
He has also featured in the Wall Street Journal for knocking a psychological hole in Gallagher's Silk Cut cigarette advertising campaign; served as a consultant to Groupe Credit Mutuel, France’s largest mutual bank, on the meaning of mutuality; sits (unpaid) on the Sustainability Stakeholders Panel of Lafarge, the biggest construction materials company in the world, that he helped to see off from the Harris superquarry; he has lectured on the theology of land reform at the Economics Department of the Russian Academy of Sciences; served as a theological consultant on nonviolence to the World Council of Churches; and every year, for the past decade, has addressed 400 senior military officers on the Advanced Command & Staff Course at the Joint Services Command & Staff College. He is a Fellow of Scotland's Centre for Human Ecology, a Visiting Fellow of the Academy of Irish Cultural Heritages at the University of Ulster, and in 2006 was appointed to an honorary position in Strathclyde University as Scotland’s first Visiting Professor of Human Ecology. He is a regular presenter for Thought for the Day on BBC Radio Scotland and has some 200 items of published work to his name, many of which are available at www.AlastairMcIntosh.com .
Alastair’s work seeks to connect people, place and spirituality into a more full understanding of community. He sees global crises as crises of the human condition requiring evolution that is more cultural than political, economic or technical. Spirituality for him is “that which gives life” and specifically, “life as love made visible.” As a Quaker, he approaches this from both Christian and interfaith perspectives. Walter Wink has described him as, “in my opinion, and apparently in many others, one of the best theologians in Scotland today.” Others consider his views heretical, and in 1996 his teaching post at Edinburgh University was controversially axed in connection with his work challenging corporate and landed power. He lives with his wife, Vérène Nicolas, in the Greater Govan area of Glasgow, where he is a founding director of the GalGael Trust working with local people in hard-pressed circumstances. He and Vérène often undertake events jointly.
His book, "Soil and Soul" (Aurum Press, 2001), has been described as "No Logo in a Fair Isle jumper" by Susan Flockhart of the Sunday Herald, “world-changing” by George Monbiot, "life-changing" by the Bishop of Liverpool, and "truly mental" by musician Thom Yorke of Radiohead. Other books include a poetry collection, “Love and Revolution”, from Luath Pess (2006); “Hell and High Water: Climate Change, Hope and the Human Condition” – published by Birlinn in June 2008 and described by Michael Russell MSP, the Scottish Government’s Minister for the Environment, as “a profoundly important book”; and “Rekindling Community: Connecting People, Environment and Spirituality”, due in October 2008 as a Schumacher Briefing (Green Books) with endorsement and research funding from WWF International.
He has also featured in the Wall Street Journal for knocking a psychological hole in Gallagher's Silk Cut cigarette advertising campaign; served as a consultant to Groupe Credit Mutuel, France’s largest mutual bank, on the meaning of mutuality; sits (unpaid) on the Sustainability Stakeholders Panel of Lafarge, the biggest construction materials company in the world, that he helped to see off from the Harris superquarry; he has lectured on the theology of land reform at the Economics Department of the Russian Academy of Sciences; served as a theological consultant on nonviolence to the World Council of Churches; and every year, for the past decade, has addressed 400 senior military officers on the Advanced Command & Staff Course at the Joint Services Command & Staff College. He is a Fellow of Scotland's Centre for Human Ecology, a Visiting Fellow of the Academy of Irish Cultural Heritages at the University of Ulster, and in 2006 was appointed to an honorary position in Strathclyde University as Scotland’s first Visiting Professor of Human Ecology. He is a regular presenter for Thought for the Day on BBC Radio Scotland and has some 200 items of published work to his name, many of which are available at www.AlastairMcIntosh.com .
Alastair’s work seeks to connect people, place and spirituality into a more full understanding of community. He sees global crises as crises of the human condition requiring evolution that is more cultural than political, economic or technical. Spirituality for him is “that which gives life” and specifically, “life as love made visible.” As a Quaker, he approaches this from both Christian and interfaith perspectives. Walter Wink has described him as, “in my opinion, and apparently in many others, one of the best theologians in Scotland today.” Others consider his views heretical, and in 1996 his teaching post at Edinburgh University was controversially axed in connection with his work challenging corporate and landed power. He lives with his wife, Vérène Nicolas, in the Greater Govan area of Glasgow, where he is a founding director of the GalGael Trust working with local people in hard-pressed circumstances. He and Vérène often undertake events jointly.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 3, 2022
Subtitled The Climate Crisis and the Survival of Being, this scholarly book from Scottish environmental campaigner Alastair McIntosh claims to offer a powerful vision for how to weather the storm holistically, including spiritual and humanistic approaches as well as science.
But first he gives us the science, in great detail too. His approach is very thorough and interesting, but sometimes I felt that his language was too dense and too convoluted, despite him criticising official reports (from bodies such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) for exactly these failings. The narrative starts with a detailed history of climate change, up to the present day, including some case studies, especially from the Scottish context. McIntosh then summarises current climate science and offers ways to recognise whether climate reporting and science is accurate or not (very useful in a world where we seem to be bombarded with information on the issue). He looks at issues such as consumerism, the interplay of climate change and pandemic diseases, the pros and cons of technological solutions to the climate crisis and examines the psychology of both climate alarmism and climate denialism.
It's a well researched, comprehensive book that concludes:
"Such is the doom of climate change; a wake-up call to the human condition at this turning point in our biological and cultural evolution."
This book is very thought-provoking, but whether it offers any practical steps to a sustainable future is, however, debatable.
But first he gives us the science, in great detail too. His approach is very thorough and interesting, but sometimes I felt that his language was too dense and too convoluted, despite him criticising official reports (from bodies such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) for exactly these failings. The narrative starts with a detailed history of climate change, up to the present day, including some case studies, especially from the Scottish context. McIntosh then summarises current climate science and offers ways to recognise whether climate reporting and science is accurate or not (very useful in a world where we seem to be bombarded with information on the issue). He looks at issues such as consumerism, the interplay of climate change and pandemic diseases, the pros and cons of technological solutions to the climate crisis and examines the psychology of both climate alarmism and climate denialism.
It's a well researched, comprehensive book that concludes:
"Such is the doom of climate change; a wake-up call to the human condition at this turning point in our biological and cultural evolution."
This book is very thought-provoking, but whether it offers any practical steps to a sustainable future is, however, debatable.
August 13, 2020
"What if we were to take climate change not just as a threat, but as an opportunity to deepen our humanity?" Alastair McIntosh lays out what we can and can't say with any confidence about climate change with superb clarity, and goes on to frame hopeful responses that bring us closer to our true selves, each other and the Earth. Tackling the increasing problem of alarmism, as well as the older (and more alarming) one of funded climate denial, he argues, "For the purposes of motivating action... the unembellished science is quite bad enough to be good enough." Alarmist pseudoscience "collapses the possibilities of the future" but McIntosh says "a crisis is too good a chance to waste", and invites us to "evolve culturally". As in other works, he is humble enough to listen and learn even from those with whom he differs, and the resulting text becomes an enriching example of the deepened humanity for which he argues. Whether explaining scientific concepts, delving transpersonal psychology or raiding a wide range of spiritual wisdom and indigenous practice - including from his native Western Isles - his anecdotes and illustrations illuminate as well as clarify, and however far readers may or may not be able to go with him down some of his tracks, you cannot help but be stimulated and intrigued. This will be top of my list of recommendations for non-fiction reading for the foreseeable.
December 31, 2020
I could not stop reading this book. Blasted through it in an evening. Not just about the science, or lack there of, of climate change but also a short social economic history of the issues over the past decades. Although called "one of the world's leading environmental campaigners" the author has produced a balanced argument for measured action. "Climate change denial is a waste of time. But climate change alarmism is a theft of time. We have no mandate to collapse the possibilities of the future, to contract and restrict our latitude for agency and action."
December 15, 2020
The first 'environmental' text I have read which interweaves a lot of important threads: what science says, how to view the data, what it actually means, what can be done, how we should live, why the situation is as it is. It paints a full picture of what is going on and answers a lot of questions in a deep, satisfying way. Thank you to Mr McIntosh!
June 17, 2021
I loved the book. In particular the chapter on Rebellion and Leadership. As a member of Extinction Rebellion I really appreciated the discussion of deniers and amplifiers. The IPCC evidence is bad enough - we don't need to embellish. I also appreciated the theory around his 4Cs of clearance, collapse, consumption and community. And his optimism. In our doom is our dharma. Let's hope he's right.
August 29, 2020
Useful overview of the science to begin, moving into a discussion of both denial and alarmism, and finishing with a poetic call to belonging and community as a response to climate crisis.
Full review here: https://earthbound.report/2020/08/24/...
Full review here: https://earthbound.report/2020/08/24/...
May 10, 2021
Balanced analysis. Increased my understanding of the issues, politics, science, policies etc, as you might expect. Phylosophical discussion made me ask many questions of myself and gave me hope for the future.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews