Although greenhouse gases are invisible, they can be measured by their weight. In 2019, for instance, the sum of all human-caused emissions was 59 gigatons.
A gigaton is a billion metric tons. A metric ton equals 2,205 pounds, or about 10 percent heavier than a U.S. ton. How much is a single gigaton? It’s the weight of 10,000 fully loaded aircraft carriers.
Burning 110 gallons of gasoline results in one ton of emissions.
Powering 12,000 homes with fossil fuels for one year emits 100,000 tons of emissions.
Driving 200,000 gasoline-fueled cars an average of 12,000 miles each produces one million tons of emissions.
Finally, operating 220 coal-fired power plants for one year produces one gigaton of emissions.