The Geographic pole is the top of the axis on which the earth spins, the Magnetic pole is where the compass points to, and the Arctic pole is the point on the Arctic Ocean furthest from any land.

BBC: NEWS | UK | British man scores polar success

"While the ice is disappearing faster than the computer models indicate, both observations and the models point in the same direction: the Arctic is losing ice at an increasingly rapid pace and the impact of greenhouse gases is growing, " said co-author Marika Holland of NCAR.

CNN: Arctic melt worse than predictions

Skeptics point out that global warming is expected to warm Arctic air masses more than Gulf of Mexico air masses, which will therefore diminish the contrast between the two air masses and reduce the strength and likelihood of tornadoes.

FORBES: Alarmists Offer A Perfect Global Warming Challenge

The amount of the Arctic covered by sea ice fell in late August to the lowest point since satellite observations began in 1979, the National Snow and Ice Data Center reported.

CNN: Ice floe halts Shell's new Arctic well

Some climate change naysayers point to Antarctic ice on the rise, as if that makes up for melting ice in the Arctic Circle.

FORBES: On Romney's 'Rising Oceans', Time To Get A Bigger Boat