megaton
noun
mega·ton
| \ ˈme-gə-ˌtən
\
\
Definition of megaton
: an explosive force equivalent to that of one million tons of TNT
Examples of megaton in a Sentence
an atomic explosion with a force of several megatons
Recent Examples on the Web
Over the first 18 days of August alone, Arctic wildfires emitted 42 megatons of carbon dioxide. — Kendra Pierre-louis, New York Times, "The Amazon, Siberia, Indonesia: A World of Fire," 29 Aug. 2019 The Arctic Circle, including areas of Alaska, Siberia, Canada and Scandinavia, is experiencing its worst wildfire season ever, with more than 100 blazes burning through dried up peat bogs, releasing megatons of carbon. — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, "Rare Lightning Strikes Detected 300 Miles From North Pole," 14 Aug. 2019 In the last three years alone, the area affected by forest fires has tripled, spewing megatons of greenhouse emissions into the atmosphere, according to official Russian estimates. — Frederik Pleitgen, CNN, "Fires, floods (and even bugs) are challenging Russia's stance on the climate crisis," 6 Aug. 2019 Regular nuclear weapons are typically in the 100 kiloton or less range, while thermonuclear weapons can easy range into the megaton (1,000 kiloton) or higher range. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "North Korea's Latest Nuclear Test Was More Powerful Than We Thought," 5 June 2019 Adjusting for factors like the size of the mining facilities (bigger ones can be cooled more efficiently) and the average emissions in popular regions for mining, Stoll’s team estimated Bitcoin’s CO2 emissions at about 22 megatons per year. — Gregory Barber, WIRED, "Bitcoin's Climate Impact Is Global. The Cures Are Local.," 12 June 2019 Then the Mustang and Camaro got redesigned, losing their megaton-blast V-8s in the process. — Ezra Dyer, Popular Mechanics, "The Great American Tuner Shoot-Out," 3 Aug. 2016 The warhead’s explosive yield is said to be 2 megatons, or 2,000 kilotons. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "Russia Releases Test Video of Poseidon Nuclear Attack Drone," 22 Feb. 2019 Early reports claimed Poseidon had a 100 megaton thermonuclear warhead. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "Russia’s Nuclear Tsunami Apocalypse Torpedo is Named 'Poseidon'," 24 July 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'megaton.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
More Definitions for megaton
megaton
noun
English Language Learners Definition of megaton
: an explosive force that is equal to one million tons of TNT
See the full definition for megaton in the English Language Learners Dictionary