gigaton
/ˈɡɪɡətʌn/
noun
- A unit of explosive power equal to one billion (1,000,000,000) tons of TNT, used especially for measuring nuclear weapons or asteroid impacts.
- The treaty limited the testing of weapons above a certain gigaton threshold.
- Scientists estimated the asteroid impact released energy equivalent to 100 gigatons of TNT.
- The largest nuclear bomb ever tested had a yield of about 50 megatons, far less than a single gigaton.
- A unit of mass equal to one billion metric tons, used especially in discussions of climate change and carbon emissions.
- Global carbon dioxide emissions now exceed 35 gigatons per year.
- The plan aims to reduce atmospheric carbon by one gigaton annually.
- A gigaton of ice melting from Greenland raises sea levels significantly.