Read here. Map source here. (click on image to enlarge)
A coral reef off the coast of Colombia was severely damaged by the heat of the 1982-83 El Niño. Close to 85% of the reef's coral was devastated, and then the 1997-98 El Niño struck putting more stress on the reef. Per the global warming alarmist's claims, this reef was destroyed for all future generations. The climate alarmists were wrong, again.
"Working with data they obtained over the period 1998-2004 from 20 permanent transects at two sites on one of the largest and best developed coral reefs in the Colombian Pacific (La Azufrada reef on Gorgona Island), plus data obtained there even earlier by others, Zapata et al. developed an extended history that revealed some interesting aspects of the reef's resiliency.....showed the reef at La Azufrada to have returned to "pre-disturbance (1979) levels of coral cover within a 10-year period after the 1982-83 El Niño, which caused 85% mortality," and that, subsequently, "the effects of the 1997-98 El Niño, indicated by the difference in overall live coral cover between 1998 and 1999, were minor (<6% reduction)." And they indicate that "despite recurrent natural disturbances, live coral cover in 2004 was as high as that existing before 1982 at La Azufrada."" [Fernando A. Zapata, Alberto Rodríguez-Ramírez, Carlos Caro-Zambrano & Jaime Garzón-Ferreira 2010: International Journal of Tropical Biology and Conservation]
Additional coral-reef and peer-reviewed postings.