McGuire studied at UCL and Luton College of Higher Education, now the University of Bedfordshire[2] and has a PhD in Geology from University College London (1980).[3] He began lecturing in Geology at the West London Institute of Higher Education in the 1980s, former home of well known TV geologist Iain Stewart. He was then appointed Reader at Cheltenham & Gloucester College of Higher Education (now the University of Gloucestershire), and made it into the university sector in the 1990s when he was appointed Professor of Geohazards and Director of the Aon Benfield UCL Hazard Research Centre at University College London.[4] The centre is funded by the insurance industry. He relinquished the Directorship in 2011.
In his book, Waking the Giant,[8] he argues temperature change brought about by global warming could release pressure from melting ice caps (through post-glacial rebound) and trigger earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, as well as increased landslides resulting from heavier rainfall.[9] See Physical impacts of climate change
McGuire is a Co-Director of the New Weather Institute,[10] a co-op and think-tank "created to accelerate the rapid transition to a fair economy that thrives within planetary boundaries".[11] He blogs for Extinction Rebellion[11][12] and is a Special Scientific Advisor for The Word Forest Organisation.[13]
In September 2023 McGuire appeared in British newspaper the i stating the economy and society would collapse by 2050 following riots due to lack of food, in part brought about by climate change. He likened the scenario to "the Wild West" with "gangs roaming the countryside".[14]