Our Time: A History of Climate Change

(Hardback)

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An inspiring call to action that links todays climate crisis to Earths evolution throughout history.

Our Time is a true story. It is about the climate crisis. The story begins as a tsunami crests the horizon. We journey through time, from the formation of the Earth to the present day. We reflect on the finely tuned climate system and its elegant workings which have made it possible for living things to thrive on Earth for 3-and-a-half billion years. We explore what happened when Earths climate spiraled out of control and how it repaired itself time and time again. And as we plunge into our own chapter of time, we reflect on our separation from nature as a root cause of the crisis we now find ourselves in.

Skelton tells this story as a geologist who was awoken to climate activism by the voices of his own students. As a geologist, he shares a perspective on the climate crisis as a blink of an eye amidst the enormity of time. Skelton shares the story of his own awakening to the true meaning of what he had taught his students for years but never understood. He shares the hopes and fears of his students, some of whom continue to sit in Stockholms Parliament Square every Friday, and who have built a movement that must ultimately change the world.

Concluding with what will happen if we fail to act, and what will happen if we do act, Skelton compares alternative futures, and aware that we are free to choose, he explains how we can still choose a good one. Throughout, and without ever betraying scientific truth, he walks the narrow path between the inaction of denial (its not happening) and the inaction of despair, (its all over but the shouting) the path that leads instead to the action of hope.

Author Bio

Alasdair Skelton is professor of geochemistry and petrology at Stockholm University. His academic works are on geology, earthquakes, tsunamis, climate of the past and the ongoing climate crisis. He was Director of the Bolin Centre for Climate Research for 9 years. He is also a climate activist. He lives in Sweden.