Arctic ice refreezing at record rate

Uh, if you have more open surface area, then you are going to have faster growth of ice. All the rapid growth of the Arctic Ice means to the warming debate is that we saw this summer the largest melt of Arctic Ice in modern times (illustrated by the opening of the Northwest Passage for the first time in history). You can't just pick the facts that are convenient to your argument and ignore the rest.

Roald Amundsen passed the Northwest Passage in a rather small boat in 1905. After that a number of documented passages have been completed.

The Northwest Passage was ice-free for the first time in documented history (since record keeping began in 1978), according to a report by the European Space Agency which was published on Sept 14, 2007. You can find a copy of that report here. I never stated that explorers had never traversed the Northwest Passage, only that it was open for the first time in history.