Clayton Aldern

Elegant, convincingly argued &hellip; a calm voice in a world of chaos &hellip; impossible to ignore

A neuroscientist shows the myriad ways that our warming climate is making us cranky, dopey and sick&hellip; Aldern has managed to do something that most books about climate change fail to: cast the problem in a new light, revealing it to be more insidious than it first appeared

In The Weight of Nature, Clayton Page Aldern comes closer than anyone in a long time to articulating why so many of us feel queasy about climate change: it is altering the landscape but also us... Beautifully written, this heatwave reading will give you the chills

Arresting revelations ... this is not another book about climate anxiety

Aldern is an excellent storyteller, drawing on interviews and personal experience, with an elegant prose style… and his background in neuroscience puts him on a strong footing to explore the mechanistic impacts of climate change on brain function and chemistry

Aldern is the rare writer who dares to ask how climate change has already changed us

This important watershed book has powerful immediacy as it explains in a clear, warm voice precisely how climate change is making tiny incremental changes in our brains and bodies. Many believe that human brains and bodies can resist or adapt to a warming world. But we learn here that there are limits. Penetrating, intensely personal, and impossible to put down, this is a book you need to read

Annie Proulx, winner of the Pulitzer Prize

It's hard, at this late date, to write something profound and new about the overarching crisis of our times. But Clayton Aldern has succeeded - this book is a triumph, rigorous in its reporting but also in its thinking and feeling. I learned an awful lot

What a book! Profound, revelatory, exquisitely written &ndash; The Weight of Nature is an unnerving insight into the effects climate change is having on us, as human beings, right now. This is vital, urgent reading, a lifeline to lead us out of the labyrinth.

Clayton Page Aldern&rsquo;s writing is so engaging, his research so novel, and his inquiry into our brains and bodies so timely and revealing that this is a rare climate change book you&rsquo;ll actually savor

Alan Weisman, author of THE WORLD WITHOUT US and COUNTDOWN

The Weight of Nature is a funny, moving and extraordinarily necessary tour through an area of science that might be more important than any other. It is beautifully researched, fascinating and deeply awe-inspiring: showing how much more connected we are to our physical environment than I could possibly have imagined. I defy anyone not to come away moved, entertained, and changed

Urgently necessary&hellip; A lyrical and scientifically rigorous account of the emotional and physical toll climate change is taking on the human brain

Gripping... completely blew my mind

Compelling.. unexpected and nuanced

While we are so often attuned to an individualistic separateness of self, The Weight of Nature offers a new way of understanding our relationship with the Earth through a grounded notion of planetary empathy

How a Changing Climate Changes Our Minds, Brains and Bodies

It is now inarguable that climate change threatens the future of life on Earth. But in The Weight of Nature, award-winning journalist and neuroscientist Clayton Page Aldern shows that the warming climate is not just affecting our planet - it is affecting our brains and bodies too. 
 
Drawing on six years of ground-breaking research, Aldern documents a burgeoning public health crisis that has gone largely unreported. Eco-anxiety, he shows us, is just the tip of the iceberg. The rapidly changing environment is directly intervening in our brain health, behaviour, decision-making and cognition in real time, affecting everything from spikes in aggravated assault to lower levels of productivity and concentration, to the global dementia epidemic. Travelling the world to meet the scientists and doctors unravelling the tangled connections between us and our environment, and reporting the stories of those who are already feeling these shifts most keenly, Aldern shows how a weary world is wearing on us. 
 
Written in urgent and deeply moving prose, The Weight of Nature is a revelation, bringing to light the myriad ways the changing environment is changing our very humanity from the inside out.

Clayton Aldern

Praise for The Weight of Nature

Elegant, convincingly argued … a calm voice in a world of chaos … impossible to ignore

A neuroscientist shows the myriad ways that our warming climate is making us cranky, dopey and sick… Aldern has managed to do something that most books about climate change fail to: cast the problem in a n ...

In The Weight of Nature, Clayton Page Aldern comes closer than anyone in a long time to articulating why so many of us feel queasy about climate change: it is altering the landscape but also us... Beautifu ...

Elegant, convincingly argued … a calm voice in a world of chaos … impossible to ignore

A neuroscientist shows the myriad ways that our warming climate is making us cranky, dopey and sick… Aldern has managed to do something that most books about climate change fail to: cast the problem in a n ...

In The Weight of Nature, Clayton Page Aldern comes closer than anyone in a long time to articulating why so many of us feel queasy about climate change: it is altering the landscape but also us... Beautifu ...

Elegant, convincingly argued … a calm voice in a world of chaos … impossible to ignore

A neuroscientist shows the myriad ways that our warming climate is making us cranky, dopey and sick… Aldern has managed to do something that most books about climate change fail to: cast the problem in a n ...

In The Weight of Nature, Clayton Page Aldern comes closer than anyone in a long time to articulating why so many of us feel queasy about climate change: it is altering the landscape but also us... Beautifu ...

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