So what is Mark "The Arctic is screaming" Serreze's problem?

AFP: North Pole may briefly have no ice this summer: US expert

[Serreze] put the chances of there being no ice at one point at 50 percent, saying it could see "ships sail from Alaska to the North Pole, that's possible."

The ice on the north pole has melted before, "but certainly not in modern times," Serreze said.

I mean, the guy's identified as "a scientist with the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado"--could he really not know that the North Pole HAS been ice-free (and ships HAVE been there) in modern times?

From this 2002 page:

Recalling the reaction of passengers when they saw an iceless North Pole, he said: “There was a sense of alarm. Global warming was real, and we were seeing its effects for the first time that far north.”

Note also Serreze's odd backing away here:

I hope that I will not be pilloried by the community for being a part of this story. From what I can gather, it started with a piece in “National Geographic Online”, moved to a piece in “The Independent”, another piece on CNN, and then quickly grew out of all reasonable proportion. A positive feedback process. I’ll be the first to agree that losing the ice at the north pole this summer would be purely symbolic, but symbolism can be pretty darned powerful.