In sheer numbers and size, these fires burned on an unprecedented scale. The public, including judges, want answers to numerous questions about their nature and origin: Are these fires truly larger than in previous years? Are we seeing unprecedented destruction of property and natural lands? If so, what is different now to create such conflagration and damage? What are the factors that are causing increases in fires, are they related to climate change, forest management practices, natural variability, or something else? If climate change is implicated, do scientists make a causal connection, what is the line of reasoning, and how strong is it? Beyond this basic knowledge, judges may want to know if injury and damage from these events will lead to cases being brought before their courts. What kinds of claims have been made in the past or are likely to be made in the wake of such fires? And what scientific information might judges want to know to help them?

Join leading wildfire and atmospheric science experts Professor John Abatzoglou of University of California, Merced, and Professor David Romps of University of California, Berkeley, leading environmental legal scholar Professor Daniel Farber of University of California, Berkeley Law, and Justice Ronald B. Robie of the California Court of Appeal for an interactive webinar and discussion of the Western wildfires of 2020.