Carbon dioxide equivalent of "emissions" or rate of greenhouse gas emission—a "flow" into the atmosphere—rather than the instantaneous value of the radiative forcing of the "stock" (concentration) of greenhouse gases "in the atmosphere" described by e. The carbon dioxide equivalency for a gas is obtained by multiplying the mass and the GWP of the gas. The following units are commonly used: For example, the GWP for methane over 100 years is 34 and for nitrous oxide 298. This means that emissions of 1 million metric tonnes of methane and nitrous oxide respectively is equivalent to emissions of 34 and 298 million metric tonnes
Nitrous oxide twenty-first century. In the United States, possession of nitrous oxide is legal under federal law and is not subject to DEA purview. It is, however, regulated by the Food and Drug Administration under the Food Drug and Cosmetics Act; prosecution is possible under its "misbranding" clauses, prohibiting the sale or distribution of nitrous oxide for the purpose of human consumption. Many states have laws regulating the possession, sale, and distribution of nitrous oxide. Such laws usually ban distribution to minors or limit the amount of nitrous oxide that may be sold without special license. For example, in the state of