The 1997-1998 ENSO event was severe in the Maldives and as a result the living coral cover dropped to <10% . Recovery was still in progress in 2004 when the tsunami caused further ) damage to the reef ecosystem. Post-1998 recovery ultimately took 15 years,  and also longer than in the neighbouring undisturbed Chagos atolls, thereby suggesting the alteration of the recovery capacity of the reef ecosystem by human-induced reef degradation and climate change . Mid-2016, a new ENSO event occurred, which reduced living coral cover by 75% . Future recovery of the reef ecosystem, which is critical to both current livelihoods and economic activities  and to long-term island persistence, will mainly depend first on the frequency and magnitude of future bleaching events, which are expected to increase due to ocean warming, and second on the highly variable effects of anthropogenic disturbances locally .
IPCC
Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
IPCC Report