Comparison of CFC's and HCFC's
Global warming potentials (GWP's) are a measure of the relative radiative effect of a given substance compared to CO2, integrated over a chosen time horizon. More simply, the GWP tells us whether a compound is a stronger or weaker greenhouse gas than CO2 and by how much.
Ozone depletion potentials (ODP's) are relative numbers which compares how dangerous different compounds are for the ozone layer.
CFC's have a twofold negative impact on our climate - they destroy ozone in the stratosphere and act as greenhouse gases in the troposphere. The following table compares CFC's with the hydrofluorocarbons (HCFC's) which have replaced them.
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