More maize burning in agriculture is linked to higher N2O emissions
Comparing Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - IPCC Agriculture with Maize (corn) — Burning crop residues (Biomass burned, dry matter) across 140 countries, 2023–2050.
- Rank correlation
- +0.79
- Holding size constant
- +0.41
- Countries compared
- 140
- Period
- 2023–2050
What might link these
Maize burning releases biomass that contributes to N2O emissions, likely through nitrogen-rich residues. However, agricultural intensity and fertilizer use could also drive both metrics, making it hard to isolate the direct effect of burning.
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. Correlation doesn’t imply causation—other agricultural practices may confound the relationship.
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.