Livestock emissions linked to crop residues
Comparing Crop Residues — Emissions (CO2eq) (AR5) with Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) across 172 countries, 2023–2050.
- Rank correlation
- +0.87
- Holding size constant
- +0.40
- Countries compared
- 172
- Period
- 2023–2050
What might link these
The relationship between emissions from livestock and crop residues might be due to agricultural practices, such as the use of fertilizers and manure, which contribute to both indicators. A careful reader should be cautious about assuming a direct causal link, as factors like land use and farming intensity could also play a role. Climate and soil type are likely confounders.
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 be driven by underlying agricultural practices and environmental factors.
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.