Question

There is a strong positive linear correlation between rainfall and the number of oranges a tree produces. Does this mean that more rainfall causes orange trees to produce more fruit?

Answer 1

Answer:

A correlation between objects is defined as the relation between the two things,like if one increases the second also increases and if one decreases, the second also decreases.

Causation implies that one event is the result of the occurrence of the other event.

However, correlation does not mean that the change in one thing is the cause occurred due to the change in other.

So, here in the given scenario, we only know the correlation that is between rainfall and the number of oranges a tree produces. The more the rainfall the more the oranges. The cause is not established.

Here, we cannot derive that "this mean that more rainfall causes orange trees to produce more fruit " as it does not mean that the rainfall causes the tree to produce more oranges. There can be some other factors as well.

Answer 2

No; just because there is a correlation does not prove causation. 

The correlation says that as the amount of rainfall increases, the amount of oranges produced increases as well.  It does not state what causes it.