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Iceland's prime minister is ready to ride the wave of melted polar ice caps to increased food production and export opportunities for his arctic island.

During a recent interview, Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson said that climate change could open up new economic opportunities for the country, according to The Reykjavík Grapevine. "There’s a water shortage, energy is becoming more expensive, land is in short supply and it is predicted that the cost of food will rise in the foreseeable future because of increased demand," Gunnlaugsson said. "So there are great opportunities for Iceland there and we are mapping it out.” Sorry about your luck, Bangladesh!

Gunnlaugsson also referred to The World in 2050, a book on climate change from a geologist at UCLA that argues, among other things, that eight Nordic countries will benefit from rising sea levels and melting glaciers. (At the moment glacial melt is a problem, not an opportunity, in Iceland.) Iceland's minister isn't the first Nordic country to see the money behind climate change: Greenland's ice has been melting at record rates, leading to increased interest in the minerals and resources revealed by the ice. And Russia, along with the United States, Canada, Norway and Denmark, are all trying to extend their control of the Arctic — as the ice melts, it leads to more routes for cargo ships and places to drill for oil, writes The National Journal.