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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Barney Ronay | Photographs by Tom Jenkins

Welcome to Lusail: Lego-city of the gods and one of the strangest places on earth

Tourists and locals near the Lusail fountain display near the seafront in Lusail.
Tourists and locals near the Lusail fountain display near the seafront in Lusail. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

It has been overlooked so far in the middle of so many other urgent issues, but the state of Qatar is currently facing a ticklish existential question. Here is another standard-issue jaw-dropping fact about this place. Climate scientists have estimated that by the year 2070 Qatar will no longer be fit for human habitation. Wait. What?

Lodged between two seas, deprived of greenery or waterways, Qatar is warming at an alarming rate. At the same time Qatar produces more carbon per citizen, for export and domestic use, than any nation on earth. Here is a place that is basically sitting on a pile of gold, while simultaneously gnawing its own legs off. The end of the world? It’s on the check-list. The Supreme Committee is aware of your interest.

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