Climate change will affect the Cayman Islands economically with its tourism sector among the areas to be hardest hit, an international scientist said here on Monday 24 July.

Dr Pablo Suarez of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Centre on Climate Change and Disaster Preparedness, said Cayman must help in reducing the global crisis.

The keynote speaker at the local Red Cross forum addressed the topic "Climate changes, Disaster Preparedness and the future of the Cayman Islands" at its headquarters.

"How will Cayman be affected? There will be more risk and more at risk? You are growing so fast, you have more properties exposed to hurricanes and other extreme weather events," he said.

"Coral reefs are dying in part because of changing ocean conditions that may affect tourism. The insurance sector is particularly critical."

Tourism alongside finance and banking are the main pillars of the Cayman Islands' economy, raking in many millions annually. 

Dr Suarez said it was all right for the media to generate discussions on climate change by having differing opinions, but he stressed that studies heavily weighed in favour of impending danger.

He said that between 90 and 95 percent of scientists believe that climate change could lead to catastrophic conditions for the world's people.

With modern equipment and expanding knowledge on the subject, Dr Suarez said that experts are more convinced of the disaster waiting to happen.

"Until then people were only focusing on frequency and they were not sensing significant changes in frequency," he said.

"There is more and more knowledge coming out and every new fact tends to confirm the study. " 

He urged residents to develop their own preparedness plans and assist the Red Cross and other groups in disseminating information on climate change and disaster preparedness.

In making reference to a petrol price hike story in a local newspaper, Dr Suarez said that the prices of fuel don't reveal the real price of the product on the environment.

"The petrol price is not reflecting the true cost. We should be taking into consideration that this pollution is not denied and that should be paid," he said.  

Dr Suarez noted that Caymanians should play their part in preventing the worsening of climatic conditions.   

"One option is to reduce pollution, avoid changes in the atmosphere so that the climate does not get worse," he said.

"In addition to reducing pollution we should think of adaptation, getting ready for a climate that will get worse."

Dr Suarez held two workshops on Grand Cayman for the general public on Sunday 23 July and for Government and business executives on Monday 24 July.

Two weeks ago, G8 world leaders failed to reach a comprise on climate change, prompting French President, Jacques Chirac, to state that the world was dancing on a volcano. 

"We cannot discuss energy security while standing still on climate change," Mr Chirac said.

"Humanity is dancing on a volcano", he told leaders of Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and Russia at their summit in St Petersburg, Germany.

The term "climate change" is sometimes used to refer to all forms of climatic inconsistency, but because the Earth's climate is never static, the term is more properly used to imply a significant change from one climatic condition to another.

In some cases, climate change has been used synonymously with the term, global warming; scientists however, tend to use the term in the wider sense to also include natural changes in climate.

Dr Suarez has a PhD in Geography from the Department of Geography, Boston University (2005).

His dissertation is themed "Decision making for reducing vulnerability given new climate predictions: Case studies from Metro Boston and Rural Zimbabwe".