Carbon dioxide equivalent

Carbon dioxide equivalent is a way of measuring how much different types of greenhouse gases contribute to global warming. Scientists use this measurement because different gases have different impacts on the environment, so it's important to be able to compare them all in one unit.

Think about it like having a bunch of different types of candy. Each piece of candy has a different amount of sugar in it, and some might be worse for your teeth than others. So, you might want to know how much sugar is in each piece of candy so you can compare them and decide which ones to eat.

In the same way, scientists use carbon dioxide equivalent to measure how much different gases contribute to global warming. Carbon dioxide is one of the biggest contributors to global warming, but there are other gases like methane and nitrous oxide that also have an impact. So, scientists convert those gases into the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide that would cause the same amount of warming.

It's sort of like saying that one bag of chips is equal to three pieces of candy when it comes to how much they make you snaccident (get sugar high). That way, you can compare the impacts of different things on your health (or the environment in this case) even if they have different ingredients.

So, carbon dioxide equivalent is an important tool for understanding the impact of different gases on the climate, and helps scientists understand which sources of greenhouse gases are contributing the most to the problem.