Professor Ivan Frolov et al wrote about predicting a rebound of ice levels in the Arctic in a book published in 2009.

http://diggingintheclay.wordpress.com/2010/10/16/arctic-ice-rebound-predicted/

While there had been some retreating of glaciers in Greenland it was believed that the glaciers were generally quite stable;but, as from 2014 a tipping point is believed to have been reached.

At present, the sea ice is in a death spiral in the Arctic circle
http://www.skepticalscience.com/feb-2013-sea-ice-spiral.html

Ant,
The `Skeptical science' website, so called, doesn't impresses me. They are soooo biased that objectivity has gone out the window. Besides the name, "skeptical science" (SS) website is misleading and dishonest. To pretend that SS is a site which purportedly explaining sceptical science when in fact it is promoting and defending global warming theory is disengenious. Can this website be trusted? Not in my view. If a person can't be honest in the way he presents himself, then as far as I'm concerned, anything Cook says or claims on SS is highly suspect and should be taken with a grain of salt. SS should some integrity and change the name of its website to a title which indicates the site actually is, such as "Defending global warming theory" or "Defending consensus science" or similar.
It also must be noted that the total amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere varies on an annual cycle. This variation is usually around five percent (370 to 390ppm). The total contribution of humanity to CO2 levels is 1.7 percent which is well below the natural variation of 5 percent of CO2 in the atmosphere. So logically humanity’s CO2 emissions cannot be driving climate change.

Thank you Red Baron,

I have to admit that my assessment of climate change potential has been on a purely macro level - retreating ice, sea level rise, ocean acidity and average atmospheric and oceanic temperature change.
Given the staggering complexity of global climate, I have had no other means available to me in making an assessment and forming an opinion.

Perhaps the ice-core data comparing relative climate (relative global average temperatures) to relative CO2 levels (or atmospheric composition), over time, may not be fully indicative, or fully reliable for projection or prediction purposes - given the many variables you have identified.

With my limited knowledge I will retreat into the background, and will just have to wait to see (if I live so long) what impact, if any, the combustion of millions of years of fossil fuel aggregate, essentially from the start of the industrial revolution, and now accelerating, may, or may not have, on the Earth's future climate outcomes.

The question remains however: whether climate is changing, through natural variability or otherwise, and, if so, what preparation, adaptation, mitigation (if any) may be possible and appropriate?

I only hope someone will ultimately get it right, and 'in time'.
(Meanwhile I think I may be wise to get some solar panels capable of charging an electric-powered vehicle, inter alia.)

Red Barron, I'm not surprised you do not like the Skeptical Science site. It is maintained by scientists, it references peer reviewed science papers and allows for discussion. It is kept up to date.

What about NASA, they say that climate change is happening on the basis of:
sea level rise
global temperature increase
warming oceans
shrinking ice sheets
declining Arctic sea ice
glacial retreat
ocean acidification
extreme events
http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence

There has been some debate in relation to sea ice in the Arctic in the 1920s; one problem is that there can be no comparison of mass and volume between what was happening in the 1920s and 1979.
http://climatechangepsychology.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/arctic-sea-ice-extent-1920-1939-vs-2012.htm

Red Barron

Have a peak at the CV's of some the Sceptical Science "team"-that will really blow your socks off!

<<Bärbel Winkler lives and works in Germany. She has always had a lot of interest in environmental issues and has been active as a volunteer at the local zoo and a conservation group for many years. Over time and while learning more and more about it>>
https://www.skepticalscience.com/team.php
[if this link doesn't work check under i)About ii)Team ]

peak s/b peek -- of course