California's Wildfire Explosion: Historical Context and Causes of 21st Century Record-Shattering Disasters

After a century of fire suppression, California wildfires are now getting bigger, hotter and more frequent. This surge of large wildfires has been particularly pronounced over the past decade, which has witnessed the majority of the largest wildfires in state history. While 2020 was a historically bad year for wildfires in California, Ventura County was most severely impacted in 2017 by the Thomas fire and in 2018 by the Woolsey fire.

This lecture will examine fire history in California and the American West stretching back more than 1000 years. And consider the primary drivers of the dramatic 21st century regime shifts towards large wildfires affecting from 100,000 to 1,000,000+ acres.

Robert Dull is the Chair of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Cal Lutheran. He has spent most of his career working in Central America. Dull received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in 2001. Before arriving at Cal Lutheran, he held full-time academic appointments at UC Berkeley, Texas A&M University and the University of Texas, Austin.

The Fifty and Better (FAB) program was designed for people 50+ years of age, seeking intellectual stimulation through university level courses (without the pressure of grades) for the sake of learning and social engagement.

Registration required.

Register

Register by Nov. 1 at 3 p.m.