We've been told that Arctic sea ice is melting

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I'm not claiming to know for sure if it is or if it isn't,it's hard to trust any information these days

Looking into Arctic sea ice online I've seen that discussions on the subject can get heated. (bad joke)If you have any comments that you'd like to add, I'd just ask you to consider being kind, even if you disagree with something voiced by me or anyone else

That said...

At the 1997 Conference on Global Climate Change Al Gore told us

James Corbett elaborated on the situationthat Al Gore began to lay out in that speechin an article he wrote last year

If it is true that Arctic sea ice is disappearing, you might think all that could be done to stop it would be done

However, when you look at the actions of governments and industry, it seems they are banking a lot on this Global Climate Disruption

Arctic developments are being announced around the world

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The World's largest data center is being developed by a US/Norwegian joint venture

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Cruise ships are traveling there

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Russia intends to use nuclear power to help run ports, coastal infrastructure, and oil and gas extraction

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and has already built a liquid natural gas plant in the Arctic that reportedly cost $27 Billion

The environmental cost is higher still

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The U.S. Department of the Interior published this press release in December

"the time is now to invest in our vast Arctic energy potential"

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China has incorporated the Arctic into it'sBelt and Road Initiative

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The US Department of Defense has an Arctic strategy

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The Russian Military has been busy in the Arctic too

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Bloomberg reports that there are many ways to monetize the changing Arctic

"The Arctic also offers hydropower, wind, geothermal, tidal and solar energy. There’s even a floating Russian nuclear power generator for Bilibino, an eastern town that is shuttering aging reactors—the world’s most northern. Miners have long desired to extract Arctic gold, silver, graphite, nickel, copper, titanium, iron, lead, coal, diamond, uranium and the rare earth metals critical to high-tech devices. And there are Arctic power grids, railroads, highways, subsea telecom fiber, satellites and aviation corridors to pin down so that everyone and everything can get anywhere anytime." - source

In 2013, the Council on Foreign Relations asked

"How will shipping be affected by ice melt?"

"As the Arctic ice cap retreats, shipping lanes are opening that many trading nations hope could rival, or at least complement, conventional routes during summer months. The Northern Sea Route (NSR), a.k.a. the Northeast Passage—a shipping lane across the rim of Siberia connecting the Atlantic to the Pacific—first became ice-free in 2007, and is gaining traction as a seasonal alternative route. A voyage from Shanghai to Hamburg via the NSR (shown below in blue) shaves roughly 30 percent of the distance off a similar trip via the Suez Canal (shown in red), and it also avoids pirate-infested waters." -source

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It seems to me that changes are taking place up there,but something is missing from most of the discussions about anthropogenic climate change that I have seen, and while I am not saying it is the only cause,

I think it must be a contributing factor...

ICEBREAKERS

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NOAA tells us thatthe Arctic's oldest ice is vanishing

The National Snow & Ice Data Center asked the questionAre icebreakers changing the climate?

Open water has a lower albedo —or reflectivity—than sea ice, and so it absorbs more heat from the sun. Researchers have found that as Arctic sea ice melts in summer, leaving more areas of open water, the open water absorbs more of the sun’s energy, warming the water and melting more ice. This is one of the positive feedback loops that scientists say could lead to increased warming and sea ice loss in the Arctic.

positive feedback loopsource

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Arctic Sea State

Other information on icebreakers

Polar Icebreakers In a Changing World

A Brief History of Arctic Icebreakers

Arctic Sea Ice Forum