Global Warming Potential

Global Warming Potential (GWP) is a number that refers to the amount of global warming thought to be caused by a substance.

The GWP is the ratio of the warming to be caused by a substance to the warming caused by a similar mass of carbon dioxide. Thus, the GWP of CO2 is defined to be 1.0 . CFC-12 has a GWP of 8,500, while CFC-11 has a GWP of 5,000.

Various HCFCs and HFCs have GWPs ranging from 93 to 12,100. Water, a substitute in numerous end-uses, has a GWP of 0. A table of all ozone-depleting substances shows their ODPs, GWPs, and CAS numbers, and another table shows the GWPs for many non-ozone-depleting substances.