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Normal might be too strong, but arctic sea-ice extent is certainly above the average for the 2000's.

Weather report as of 28 minutes ago (20:00 UTC):
The wind was blowing at a speed of 6.7 meters per second (15.0 miles per hour) from West/Southwest in Resolute, Canada. The temperature was -13 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit). Air pressure was 1,014 hPa (29.94 inHg). Relative humidity was 71.8%. There were broken clouds at a height of 427 meters (1400 feet) and overcast at a height of 914 meters (3000 feet). The visibility was 2.0 kilometers (1.3 miles). Current weather is Light Snow . Arthropolis

so it's still plenty cold enough. Personally I think Ice loss is more a matter of Sea currents and wind direction than temperature, and the ice is flowing more toward the bottleneck of the Bering Straits than the Greenland Sea. Right now the ENSO index is holding close to neutral so I don't expect anything noteworthy happening this summer, the rate of warming has been zero and the temperature anomaly has stuck in the .3-.10 degree range for 15-20 years. I just don't see anything to get excited about.

The breadth of the thawing is very interesting, but it wasn't a deep thawing, no sign of it on the webcam It's -11C there today. If your specifically interested in the arctic Athropolis has you covered, I use the Big Arctic Map a lot, it really puts things in prespective.

The breadth of the thawing is very interesting, but it wasn't a deep thawing, no sign of it on the webcam It's -11C there today. If your specifically interested in the arctic Athropolis has you covered, I use the Big Arctic Map a lot, it really puts things in prespective.

First, You need to watch a couple episodes of "Ice Road Truckers" to regain your grip on reality, nothing can move on thawed tungra.
Second, a 7.5 degrees Celsius increase would mean a CO2 level of 17.9 times or an increase from 392PPM to 7040.08 PPM at a climate sensitivity of 1.8 and an increase of 6.85 times or 2688.31 PPM at climate sensitivity of 2.9 and that's the range that even the Hockey team are use; so talking about a 7.5 degree increase is just crazy
Third, I think TFA's author Alex Morales, just might be enthralled by David Suzuki
Fourthly

December 1, 2011 weather report for:
CAPE LISBURNE, ALASKA, USA (16:55 UTC): -21 degrees Celsius (-6 degrees Fahrenheit).
BARROW, ALASKA, USA (16:53 UTC): -20 degrees Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit).
TUKTOYAKTUK, NWT, CANADA (17:00 UTC): -22 degrees Celsius (-8 degrees Fahrenheit).
KUGLUKTUK, NUNAVUT, CANADA(17:00 UTC): -29 degrees Celsius (-20 degrees Fahrenheit).
CAMBRIDGE BAY, NUNAVUT, CANADA (17:00 UTC): -23 degrees Celsius (-9 degrees Fahrenheit).
IQALUIT, NUNAVUT, CANADA (17:00 UTC): -10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit).
BAKER LAKE, NUNAVUT, CANADA (17:00 UTC): -19 degrees Celsius (-2 degrees Fahrenheit).
ALERT, NUNAVUT, CANADA (16:00 UTC): -32 degrees Celsius (-26 degrees Fahrenheit).
THULE, GREENLAND (16:55 UTC): The temperature was -21 degrees Celsius (-6 degrees Fahrenheit).
SØNDRE STRØMFJORD, GREENLAND (16:50 UTC): -8 degrees Celsius (18 degrees Fahrenheit).
NARSARSUAQ, GREENLAND (16:50 UTC): -2 degrees Celsius (28 degrees Fahrenheit).
REYKJAVIK, ICELAND (17:00 UTC): -3 degrees Celsius (27 degrees Fahrenheit).
KHATANGA, RUSSIA (15:00 UTC): -12 degrees Celsius (10 degrees Fahrenheit).
TISKI, RUSSIA (17:00 UTC): -32 degrees Celsius (-26 degrees Fahrenheit).
PEVEK, RUSSIA (05:00 UTC): -43 degrees Celsius (-45 degrees Fahrenheit).
ANADYR', RUSSIA (08:00 UTC): -28 degrees Celsius (-18 degrees Fahrenheit).
SAVOONGA, ALASKA, USA (17:36 UTC): -13 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit)
NOME, ALASKA, USA (17:53 UTC): -24 degrees Celsius (-11 degrees Fahrenheit)
Athropolis

We still have time for rational thought; Dursban isn't a deadline except for those who believe in the Cause

since the town where that show was set seemed to exist in a fictional world where they were both below the tree line and above the arctic circle.

Yes, those places do exist. This map shows several places in Canada and Alaska.

Great show and good reference. There are lots of places above the arctic circle and below the tree line. Ugly map

Here in Sweden a lot of mining is done in Kiruna:
City(?):
http://www.strangeharvest.com/mt/archive/kiruna3.jpg
http://www.mynewsdesk.com/files/e1ec5f78a79c345d4a3fcf3c86177f0f/resources/ResourceWebImage/thumbnails/flygbild_kiruna_november_2007_large.jpg?1238409989

They are even moving the whole city afaik because they have mined so much underneath it or if it's that they want to mine underneath it so it has to be moved.

The ice hotel (Jukkasjärvi):
http://www.qedata.se/bilder/gallerier/ishotellet/ishotell-ingang-natt.jpg
http://www.qedata.se/bilder/gallerier/ishotellet/ishotell-rum-japan.jpg
http://www.qedata.se/bilder/gallerier/ishotellet/ishotell-ingang2-natt.jpg
http://www.qedata.se/bilder/gallerier/ishotellet/ishotell-ute-hjerta.jpg
http://www.kirunabuss.se/taxibestallning-ishotellet/282FCFC53F4D46B483E98F34D627F045
http://fjellfotografen.se/albums/uta/sverige/lappland/Miniatyr_Iskyrka%20och%20Ishotell,%20Jukkasj%E4rvi%20%A9%20uta-bg1044.jpg
http://cache.virtualtourist.com/1323606-A_reindeer_fur_covered_bed_in_the_Ice_Hotel-Kiruna.jpg

Aurora:
http://www.ltu.se/polopoly_fs/1.36982!terassen_kiruna_aurora.jpg
http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/autopia/images/2008/04/24/kiruna.jpg

http://www.wintercities.kiruna.se/nytt/kiruna6.gif

Kiruna on a map: http://homepage.swissonline.ch/Christener/Kiruna/Bilder/Kiruna.jpg

Esrange space center is close by to.

Kiruna location: 675118N, 201331O
Alaska: 5440'N - 7150'N, 130W - 173E

I don't know how much the gulf stream (eventually quite a bit?) help but if people can mine there I assume they can mine in Alaska to, why shouldn't they be able to? Heck I live in Örebro at around the same latitude as Stockholm and the location of this city is 5916N 1513O, so even that is more north than the southern parts of Alaska.

Arctic circle:
World: http://www.athropolis.com/map2.htm
Alaska: http://www.studentsoftheworld.info/sites/country/img/15000_AlaskaMap.jpg

Apparently it's been done - with icebergs, not monsters like this. Seem to recall that Arthur Clarke proposed this idea in the 70s as a remedy for freshwater shortages.

Um... tundra is permanently frozen ground. Not a lot of mosquitoes can lay their eggs in a puddle of ice.

More accurately, tundra is permanently frozen subsoil. In most areas the top layer of soil melts each summer, and due to the impermeable permafrost layer beneath, tundra areas tend to be very boggy.

As a result, Tundra areas can have some of the highest concentrations of mosquitoes in the world: http://www.athropolis.com/arctic-facts/fact-mosquito.htm

"YES! How long until it is 1906 again?"

In 1903, Amundsen led the first expedition to successfully traverse the Northwest Passage

"After a third winter trapped in the ice, Amundsen was able to navigate a passage into the Beaufort Sea after which he cleared into the Bering Strait, thus having successfully navigated the Northwest Passage.[1] Continuing to the south of Victoria Island, the ship cleared the Canadian Arctic Archipelago on August 17, 1905, but had to stop for the winter..."

I.E. It took him three years to cross the NW passage !!!

Global warming has opened up the Northwest passages to the point where one can traverse it in less then ten days.

Note: I use the plural version of passages since there are many routes.

Under the ice sheet there are, wait for it... Trees

http://www.athropolis.com/arctic-facts/fact-ice-co re.htm
This planet was once warm in the past. It is warming up again despite our human influence.
FYI, the planet is going to get cold again when it adjusts.

Enjoy,

Fun map of the Arctic, with links to weather measurements.

Further, check this article on Inuit Kayaks out. out.

In case it gets /.'d (this comment is buried down enough that maybe it won't but just in case... that said, there is a very old photo on the site of actual Inuit kayaks as well):

The Inuit invented the kayak, a one person boat used for hunting and transportation, and propelled by a double-bladed paddle. Inuit and Aleuts used driftwood or whalebone to make a light framework, and covered it with stretched skins, made watertight with whale fat.

Kayak means "hunter's boat" and it is perfect for hunting on the water. It's almost silent, making it easy to sneak up behind prey. If a white cloth is draped in front, the animals might be fooled into thinking that it is a drifting piece of ice.

These traditional "one man" boats were usually just that - "made to measure" for just one man's size and weight. When a person had fallen into the water or died from kayak hunting, it was often said that he had borrowed someone else's kayak, and didn't have the same sense of balance.

Hunters wore a sealskin "annuraaq" to keep water from getting into the boat (the origin of the modern name "anorak" for a waterproof cover). The hood and wrists were tightly tied, and it was long enough to be tied around the cockpit. So how did they get out if they capsized? Simple. They didn't.

It was considered suicide to come out of the boat. There was no protection from the icy cold water, no buoyancy in heavy skin clothing, and... who knew how to swim? If you rolled over, you had to know how to roll right back up!

actually, (in the northern hemisphere) the winter solstice is Dec. 22, first day of winter (shortest day of the year), and the summer solstice is Jun 21, the first day of summer (longest day of the year). link The equinoxes are the times of the year where the day and night are closest to equal. The Mayans built and aligned the pyramid at Chichen Itza based on the equinoxes to create a tribute to the god Quetzalcoatl, represented by a serpent. On the equinoxes, the sun casts shadows and triangles of light which are supposed to look like a diamondback rattlesnake. 'nother link