Global warming potential

Global warming potential (GWP) is a measure of how much a given mass of greenhouse gas is estimated to contribute to global warming. It is a relative scale which compares the gas in question to that of the same mass of carbon dioxide whose GWP is one.

Examples:

• carbon dioxide has a GWP of exactly 1 (since it is the baseline unit to which all other greenhouse gases are compared.)
• methane has a GWP of 21
• nitrogen dioxide has a GWP of 310

Some hydrofluorocarbon[?] (HFC) compounds have GWPs of several thousands (HFC-23 is 11,700).