Crop burning linked to manure emissions
Comparing Emission Totals - Direct emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils with All Crops — Burning crop residues (Emissions N2O) across 157 countries, 2023–2050.
- Rank correlation
- +0.82
- Holding size constant
- +0.45
- Countries compared
- 157
- Period
- 2023–2050
What might link these
The relationship between burning crop residues and direct emissions from manure applied to soils might be driven by agricultural practices that contribute to both indicators. A careful reader should consider the role of fertilizer use as a potential confounder. The correlation suggests a possible connection between these two aspects of agricultural activity.
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 causal link between the two indicators, when in fact they may both be influenced by underlying factors such as agricultural intensity or land use patterns.
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.