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Everything about Canada seems to scream nature.

Canadahas one of the lowest population densities in the world, and a vast area north of the highly-populated zone along the U.S./Canada border is mostly unspoilt wilderness. The country's flag, emblazoned with a giant red maple leaf, symbolically hat tips Mother Nature. Even a snippet of the country's national anthem goes so far to call for the preservation of Canada's "glorious" land:

"Oh, Canada...keep our land glorious and free!"

And yet, Canada, out of all the industrialized countries in the world, is the absolute worst at combating climate change and protecting the very environment it holds in such high esteem.

At least, according to a new study by the German non-profit advocacy group Germanwatch, which ranked Canada last out of all industrialized countries in its Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), a composite measure used to gage a country's effort toward the prevention of current and future contributions to climate change.

The CCPI takes into account current impacts, like greenhouse gas emissions, preventative measures, like increased dependency on renewable energy sources and future and current climate policy initiatives to rank 61 countries that, combined, contribute to more than 90 percent of the world's energy-related greenhouse emissions. (Click here for a full breakdown of how the score is generated.) Germanwatch refused to assign countries to the top 3 slots on its list, indicative of a "very good" performance in preventing climate change, because, as the group puts it:

"No country is doing enough to prevent dangerous climate change."

Still, there's not a more egregious track record in the industrialized world than in Canada, which ranks 58th on the list, just edging out the grossly negligent climate policy and emissions of Iran and Kazakhstan. (Though to be fair, Canada easily topped Saudi Arabia, the CCP's worst offender.) For those of you wondering, the U.S. remained stationary in the rankings year-to-year, checking in at 43rd.

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So what's going on north of the border?

Canada's lackluster response to greenhouse emissions might just be the biggest contributing factor to its abysmal ranking. Quartz details how Canada backed down from, and in the case of the Kyoto Protocol, out of, previous multilateral international agreements to reduce emissions,in order to opt fora goal that will see its emission levels rise by 3 percent compared to 1990.

"…Canada still shows no intention of moving forward with climate policy and therefore remains the worst performer of all industrialized countries," Germanwatch states.

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Also of particular note are Canada's oil, or tar, sands. The viscous sands, teeming with the organic compound bitumen, are a source of contention, but also a potential source of 170 billion barrels of oil. And with all of that oil also comes oil money, a lot of it. As a result, Canada's leaders have proposed or invested in a number of projects to delve out oil mined from its oil sands.

Aside from showing an investment in non-renewable energy sources, like the oil from the oil sands, there's also the potential emissions impact such a widespread investment in, and expansion of, mining Canada's oil sands presents. As the Globe and Mail points out, by 2020 emissions from Canada's oil sands are expected to balloon by 56 megatonnes, essentially negating any emissions cutbacks that could be achieved by eliminating coal-fired energy plants, and making it nearly impossible to achieve the aforementioned commitment to a 3 percent increase in emissions relative to 1990.

Couple that with the fact that Canada was the single largest contributor to deforestation -- which collectively releases more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than vehicle emissions yearly -- across the globe from 2000 to 2013, chopping down or damaging 21 percent of the world's untouched forests, and you've got yourself a ticking climate time bomb.

This whole terrible climate change ranking thing isn't all that new to Canada, either. The country scored lowest out of all industrialized countries in last year's edition of Germanwatch's CCPI, too. With no real government will power to combat climate change, the country is on pace to fail to meet even the dialed back emissions cuts set for itself, meaning it will likely remain at the bottom of any ranking of countries' climate change response, like the CCPI, for years to come.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Alaska's Disappearing Glaciers

Muir Glacier and Inlet (1895)

In the photo above, the west shoreline of Muir Inlet in Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve is shown as it appeared in 1895. Notice the lack of vegetation on the slopes of the mountains, and the glacier that stands more than 300 feet high. See the glacier as it looked in 2005 on the next page. (USGS/Bruce Molnia)