Higher nitrous oxide emissions strongly linked to crop residue CO2 emissions
Comparing Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture with Crop Residues — Emissions (CO2eq) (AR5) across 159 countries, 2023–2050.
- Rank correlation
- +0.91
- Holding size constant
- +0.59
- Countries compared
- 159
- Period
- 2023–2050
What might link these
Both indicators relate to agricultural emissions, suggesting farming intensity drives both. A careful reader should note that correlation doesn’t imply causation—other factors like agricultural policy or technology adoption might link them.
Why this is not proof of anything
This is a correlation across countries, not an experiment. It cannot show that either indicator causes the other, and both may simply follow a third thing. The partial correlation drops sharply after controlling for population and GDP, hinting at underlying economic or demographic drivers.
The second figure above repeats the measurement with national population and income held constant. It is the more conservative number: a relationship that largely disappears there was mostly telling you that larger, richer countries have more of most things.
How this was measured
Both indicators were ranked across every country reporting each, and the two rankings compared — ranks rather than raw values, because a handful of very large countries can otherwise manufacture a relationship on their own. The calculation is arithmetic over figures already published on this site; the commentary above is drafted from the two indicator names and the resulting coefficients.