You might think that one of the world’s foremost examples of the impact of climate change would be deterred from making exceptionally pollution-heavy plans for development. You’d be wrong. Despite the fact that global warming is causing its important glaciers to melt astonishingly fast, Greenland is on track to become one of the world’s most polluting  countries. If all goes according to its industry-heavy plans, each of the nation’s residents will soon be emitting more than 8 times the average American. According to news from the UN,

Greenland’s melting glaciers are textbook examples of man-made global warming. Yet, the island’s new prime minister Kuupik Kleist has no plans to reduce the country’s CO2 emissions. On the contrary, Greenland’s emissions could rise from 650,000 tonnes to 10 million tonnes, if the local administration succeeds in attracting new industries, the prime minister says.

If Greenland’s plans come to fruition, the average resident of the giant, sparsely populated nation would be emitting some 160 tons of greenhouse gases — 8.5 times what’s emitted by the average American. And since US citizens are the second most carbon-intensive in the world, this does not bode well for Greenlanders. …

As its Glaciers Melt, Greenland on Track to Emit 10 Million Tons of CO2 a Year