Australia's Great Barrier Reef is under serious threat as warming waters kill off large swaths of corals. But it's not "in danger" -- at least not according to UNESCO.

The United Nations cultural body this week voted to leave the 133,000-square-mile World Heritage Site off its list of endangered sites, which is the last stage before a site is delisted altogether. Perplexingly, the same body last month warned the Great Barrier Reef will be dead by the end of this century unless countries sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

So, why the disconnect?

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Because the decision has less to do with the reef's imperiled condition and more to do with avoiding political embarrassment for Australia's government and lasting damage to Australia's tourism industry.

Nemo, found.Credit: evergreen/unesco

The coral reef system represents around A$56 billion -- or $42.4 billion in U.S. dollars -- in economic, social, and brand value to the Australian economy, Deloitte Access Economics said in a recent report. The reef's status as a World Heritage Site is part of what makes it so iconic, recognizable, and inspiring to tourists around the world.

Australian officials breathed a sigh of relief after the World Heritage Committee voted on late Wednesday in Krakow, Poland.

"The announcement overnight was a big win for Australia and a big win for the [Malcolm] Turnbull government," Australia's Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg told Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Credit: UNESCO

He said the vote was "a strong endorsement" of the government's Reef 2050 plan to improve water quality, reduce land clearing, and increase the reef's resilience to climate change by mid-century.

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But coral reef experts and environmental groups said they were frustrated by the outcome.

Putting the Great Barrier Reef on the endangered list would create pressure on the Australian government to reduce planet-warming emissions and to take more aggressive steps to combat marine pollution, starfish invasions, and other local threats, critics said.

"An endangerment listing, as tragic as that would be, would be a more realistic representation of the state of reef and would at least force the federal government to act on climate change," Alix Foster Vander Elst, Greenpeace Australia Pacific campaigner, told Reuters.

Damaged corals of Australia's Great Barrier Reef.Credit: ED ROBERTS/ARC CENTRE CORAL REEF STUDIES HANDOUT/EPA/REX/Shutterstock

Even with its 2050 plan, Australia's management of the expansive natural wonder is facing increasing criticism as sweeping sections of the reef turn bleach-white.

In 2015 and 2016, the Great Barrier Reef suffered its largest die-off ever recorded due to unusually warm waters, with 35 percent of corals on the northern and central reef declared dead, the ARC Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies said in late May. 

Scientists blamed human-caused global warming and a strong 2015 to 2016 El Niño for the hotter water temperatures, which can cause coral bleaching. In this phenomenon, corals expel their symbiotic algae and become more vulnerable to disease and death. 

Sea surface temperature departures from average in March 2016.Credit: Mitchell Black

At the meeting in Poland, the World Heritage Committee did express "serious concern" about the health of the reef, which includes over 600 coral types and provides shelter and sustenance for thousands of marine species -- everything from algae, worms, and snails to fish, turtles, and sharks.

But the decision not to list the reef as "in danger" suggests the committee believes the Australian government is doing enough to keep the precious reef from disappearing.

Given how rapidly oceans are warming, however, those efforts will likely fall far short, experts say.

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TopicsUnited Nations