The coldest year on record in the Eastern Arctic was 1979. Since then, there has been a small decline in the area of the Arctic covered by sea ice.
Charctic Interactive Sea Ice Graph | Arctic Sea Ice News and Analysis
Data.GISS: GISS Surface Temperature Analysis
Arctic sea ice and temperature tracks the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) which has a 70 year cycle and is currently at a peak. It is quite likely that Arctic sea ice extent will increase over the few decades, as the AMO starts downwards.
Climate experts forecast that the Arctic will be come ice-free in the future, because they aren’t actual scientists.
