http://psc.apl.washington.edu/northpole/webphotos/noaa2.jpg

The Sun will set for the winter at the North Pole in a little over a week. It is just barely above the horizon now, and the light is getting “flat.”

Skiers are familiar with this. When the Sun gets low and dim in the late afternoon, it becomes difficult to make out any details of the snow surface. The snow becomes featureless.

Temperatures in the Arctic are getting very cold now, with many regions close to minus 10ºC.

http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/map/images/fnl/sfctmp_01.fnl.gif

You can compress the ice all you want, but it isn’t going to melt out at minus 10ºC. I don’t see a credible path to an ice-free Arctic without a large increase in summer temperatures.

http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/images/daily_images/N_daily_extent.png