Eli Fuller traverses the waters of Antigua's south shore like it was his backyard pool. He cuts left and right on his 45-foot speedboat the Xtreme, confidently dodging crosscurrents and coral reefs, saltwater spraying behind his silhouette.

The third generation Antiguan has been exploring this area for over two decades. Fuller's grandfather, who came to Antigua in 1941 as a United States vice-consul and opened the country's first hotel, making Fuller take his guests on day tours.

Now Fuller runs an eco-tour business and charges per person.

As he pulls back on Xtreme's throttle, the boat glides to a standstill over Cades Reef, a two-mile long wall of coral. But most of the reef is now a white skeleton of its former glory.

"It happened so quickly that you went from having what looked like an underwater jungle, like something you'd see in the Amazon forest, to being complete wreckage, like what you'd see at Ground Zero in New York," he said. "Just carnage."

The fansinating coral reefs in the waters of Antigua[File picture]

In 2005, as much as 90 percent of the coral reefs in the Eastern Caribbean were destroyed bringing the worst year of coral bleaching and disease in Caribbean history. The reason could be a mixture of factors like warming waters and pollution, but more scientists are looking at Africa. But that shall be explained later.

With the depletion of c's live coral, Fuller, 37, said he can now take his sailboat through a place off Antigua's northern shore called Kettle Bottom Shoal, something he couldn't do when he was younger.

"When I was a kid, no sailboat ever sailed through Kettle Bottom Shoal because the reef came all the way up to the surface," he said, adding that now the top of the reef begins six feet under.

The importance of living coral reefs for small island nations like Antigua and Barbuda cannot be overstated. Every grain of sand on their beaches is the remains of a skeleton of a living coral reef organism. Reefs act as natural barriers that protect the beaches and cliffs from erosion. They are the homes and food sources for a diverse marine life. They provide the foundation for the islands' fisheries and attract sport divers from around the world.

Truly, the economic future of Antigua and Barbuda is inextricably linked to the health of their coral reefs.

Golden Beaches

The streets of St John's bustle with activity. A cruise liner has docked for the day unleashing a wave of tourists eager to make the most their visit to the country's capital.

John Maginley, the minister of tourism, is in charge of the primary source of income for Antigua and Barbuda. He told Xinhua that tourism generates around 200 to 300 million U.S. dollars a year, roughly 65 percent of the nation's gross domestic product ( GDP).

With fewer reefs to protect Antigua's valuable beaches from powerful storms, Maginley worries about his country's main source of income.

"Our motto in tourism is, 'The beach is just the beginning,'" he said. "And if we have a situation where beaches are being eroded, and the shoreline will be affected, things we have to offer to our tourism visitors are affected."

On Antigua's southwest coast on Crabb Hill beach, for example, OJ's Beach Bar has been dubbed by locals as OJ's Rock Bar because they had to put rocks along the shoreline just to stop the bar from falling into the sea.

As a member of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), a 43-member group pushing for a binding climate treaty on carbon emissions in December, Antigua and Barbuda have been arguing that the climate change vulnerability index should be used as a measuring stick in all climate change funding programs, including the Global Environment Facility.

At first, the United States wasn't on board with the idea, noted Maginley.

"They didn't really think it was important until Katrina hit the southern states of America and they found out first hand what it means to be under the continuous scare of a hurricane," he said. "If the great United States of America, and the states of Louisiana and Mississippi are still today reeling from Katrina from many years ago, imagine the effect that would have on a small developing state like Antigua and other countries in the OECS ( Organization of Eastern Caribbean States)."

Blowin'in the Wind

The last major storm to pass through Antigua and Barbuda was Hurricane Omar on Oct. 16, 2008, which brought so much rain the government had to rescue people by boat, said Frances Fuller, 24, who is Eli's sister and the Environment Officer for the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Housing and the Environment.

An interesting but perhaps lesser known repercussion of all these storms is the impact they have on yachting, she said. Antigua is a main hub in the yachting industry, and if hurricanes start to occur later in the year, like Hurricane Omar, insurance companies might hesitate.

"Insurance companies won't insure yachts to come to the Caribbean during hurricane season," said Frances, noting that the season begins in June and ends in September. "That's why they don' t come here in the summer. They only come here in the winter, when we don't have hurricanes."

Figuring out the potential impact is anecdotal. English Harbor, on the island's south side, has built a whole economy around yachting, from maintenance to a full-service night life.

"Everybody bases their economy, their livelihood on that industry," said Frances. "And if it doesn't come I guess we'll have to diversify our economy as well. And I don't think we're ready for that yet."

Whether the severity and frequency of hurricanes, or cyclones as they are also called, are directly related to climate change is still a matter of debate, said Dale Destin, who oversees the Antiguan/Barbuda meteorological service.

The World Meteorological Organization took a look at how global warming affects cyclones in the Eastern Caribbean and thus far, " they have not found any strong correlations between those two issues. So at the moment the jury is probably still out," Destin said.

Dusty Weather

Every year, extreme droughts brought on by the "green house effect" and changing land use patterns, kick up dust storms in Africa. And, they blow across the Atlantic, all the way to the Eastern Caribbean and parts of southeastern United States.

During its voyage, the dust cools down temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean, decreasing hurricane activity, according to a 2008 study led by University of Wisconsin-Madison atmospheric scientists. The research shows that in 2007, the Atlantic hurricane season was much quieter than predicted and temperatures in the Atlantic were cooler than in previous years. At the same time, 2007 was recorded as the dustiest year since 1999.

If more dust equals less hurricanes, it could be argued as a good thing. But it might just be the silver lining to a dark and dusty cloud.

According to the Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies, a U. S. Geological Survey research facility, these dust storms could be contributing to the death of the Eastern Caribbean's coral reefs.

As Africa develops and embraces modern technology, the quality of the dust has changed. A hundred years ago, the dust most likely contained a majority of biodegradable materials. Now, it carries with it contaminants such as pharmaceuticals and microorganisms, as well as fecal matter and pesticides.

While still a theory, it is believed these pollutants can interfere with a coral's immune system, making it more susceptible to disease. They can also interfere with a coral's reproduction cycle and induce pathogenicity.

Meanwhile, the study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows that dust storms are decreasing, contributing to higher temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean. However, warmer waters also contributes to the coral's death. It's a coral catch-22.

"If you grew up seeing the World Trade Center (WTC), and you wake up and don't see the WTC, it's a depressing thing," Eli Fuller said. "The same thing with the reef. You go out there and you see this coral. I mean, I can remember bits of coral, my whole life. You go back there and they're gone. And it's very depressing to see something like that happen."