This link is about the fact the North Pole Ice may completely melt this summer. However, I saw a satillite pic maybe a year ago now, that showed a clear North Pole in September of 2002, so this is NOT new, they are just finally telling us about.

Also, there is an ice cutter from Murmansk which takes tourists to the North Pole during the summer, and makes the trip in 3-4 days, of about 1500 or so miles, so the ice has been very thin and broken up for some time now.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080620-north-pole.html