Manure emissions linked to crop residues
Comparing All Crops — Crop residues (Emissions N2O) with Manure Management — Emissions (CO2eq) (AR5) across 160 countries, 2023–2050.
- Rank correlation
- +0.87
- Holding size constant
- +0.55
- Countries compared
- 160
- Period
- 2023–2050
What might link these
The relationship between manure management emissions and crop residues emissions might be due to agricultural practices that contribute to both. A careful reader should consider that factors like fertilizer use could be a confounder. The correlation persists even after controlling for population and GDP, suggesting a possible underlying mechanism.
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. This correlation could mislead by implying a direct relationship between the two indicators, when in fact they may both be driven by a third factor like agricultural intensity.
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.