Alongside some well needed down time, the holidays really helped refresh my outlook on the situation in the Marshall Islands. Over Christmas I spent a good amount of time recounting to family and friends some of the stories from Majuro and Arno. I have to confess that this brought further perspective on how severe the situation is in the Marshall’s and how unique life there is. Over the course of the next few posts I hope to try and illustrate some of my new-found perspective by comparing some of the differences between life here in North America and that in the Marshall Islands.

While away I was bombarded with emails from buddies telling me of the record snowfall during the first two months of Whistler/Blackcomb’s season. Not only did this make me envious of my friends riding chest deep powder, but also it brought perspective about the geography of the Marshall Islands.

What instantly stood out was that it has snowed over seven meters on Whistler/Blackcomb this winter. That’s over three times the average elevation of the Marshall Islands. Hypothetically speaking, the record snowfall that hit the West Coast of British Columbia while I was gone really could have completely buried these low lying islands.

After comparing some of the geographical differences between Whistler/Blackcomb and the RMI you see that you really can’t find two more polarized areas on the planet. For one, Whistler/Blackcomb’s 8000 plus acre terrain is roughly one-fifth the size of the total land area of all of the Marshall Islands. When I was asked by our Marshalese friends about life in Whistler I mentioned that the top elevation of the resort was almost 2,500 meters–this was virtually incomprehensible for a person who lives on a island with an elevation of only two meters.

It just goes to show how precious the land in the RMI is, and how important the development of nation wide shore protection initiatives like Biorock are.

Note: Thanks to my good friend and photographer John  Scarth for the snow images.