About Oregon and the Age of Megafires
In testimony to the U.S. Senate in 1988, NASA scientist James Hansen said that the world was moving towards a "new climate frontier" with temperatures higher than at any time in several millennia. Over 30 years later, wildfires have become a seasonal reality in the American West. Annual fires burn more frequently, over larger areas, and with greater severity than any other time in recorded history. Beginning with the Biscuit Fire in southwestern Oregon in 2002, wildfires and drifting smoke inundating urban areas are now as regular as seasonal rain in the Pacific Northwest. The scope and scale of these fires has been following an upward trajectory in terms of frequency and size. In his presentation, Professor Bill Robbins will address the escalation of wildfires as a manifestation of climate change.
Bill Robbins is a Connecticut Yankee who discovered Oregon mid-way through a four-year stint in the U. S. Navy. He moved to Oregon in 1963 and earned graduate degrees in history at the University of Oregon. He taught at the Oregon State University from 1971 until 2002, offering courses in history of the American West, history of the American Indian, environmental history, and Pacific Northwest history. Oregon State University named him Distinguished Professor of History in 1997. He has authored many books, including: Hard Times in Paradise: Coos Bay Oregon; Landscapes of Promise: The Oregon Story, 1800-1940; Landscapes of Conflict: The Oregon Story 1940-2000; The People's School: A History of Oregon State University; and A Place for Inquiry, A Place for Wonder: The Andrews Experimental Forest.
