The Arctic ice-pack annual  maximum set a record low size Thursday because of the warming trend of recent decades. Arctic ocean water should thus heat faster this spring and summer.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/arctic-sea-ice-dwindles-to-new-record-winter-low/

http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/index.noshade.html


Politicians of course often being generically mildly retarded with avarice and elected to fulfill greed will see only the economic opportunities to exploit the natural resources of the Arctic. Note the Baltic Sea change.

Image credit: Cryosphere Today and N.A.S.A.