Amelia Urry of GRIST reports on the World Cup line-up from a different perspective. "If you want a better reason to root for a team than the color of their jersey (what, isn't that how you guys pick your favorites? #sporps) here's a bracket for you!"
World Cup competitors in this match are competing based on who can get the fartherst on the least carbon emissions. "The logic being, if you are going to pollute the atmosphere, you should make sure you get a lotta buck for your bank -- that is, wealth for your combustive energy."
"This bracket is our sloppy shortcut to see how much quality of life a country can wring out of relatively few carbon emissions. (Nerds, you can see our numbers here.) However, the biggest winner — Switzerland — also just happens to be the wealthiest. With only 5 metric tons of CO2 per citizen, and only about half its energy coming from fossil fuels, the alpine country is a middling competitor in the green game — but that $78,930 GDP per capita really pushed them over the top."
"A few other notable upsets: Uruguay had a particularly sleek team, with only 2 tons of CO2 per capita and a not-insignificant GDP per capita of $14,700. Meanwhile, Nigeria handily swept its group, with a typically low 0.5 tons of CO2 but a GDP only half as high as its closest competitor, and the bike-loving wunderkind Netherlands was still dragged down by the weight of those 11 metric tons of CO2."
