Phenomena like the recent "Snowmageddon" notwithstanding, global climate change, oft misinterpreted 'global warming', is very real. Events like the aforementioned, Katrina, etc., fit the pattern for more extreme weather and actually prove the trend. This is a long term pattern, extending over decades, centuries, even millenia, not observable in a snapshot. To what degree it is natural vs. man-made, and surely human influence is significant, is an open question.
At the end of the day though, it really doesn't matter. This is the most serious problem facing humanity on a global scale. We are at a tipping point if we have not already passed it. Our failure to respond quickly and effectively puts the future of human civilization as we know it very much in doubt. Climate change deniers are today's flat earthers. The consequences of such thinking and our failure to act are dire beyond measure.
From your own article:
"This has very little implication for what will happen this summer, or for the long-term trends, since the Bering Sea ice is thin and will melt completely well before the peak summer season." - NSIDC scientist Dr. Walt Meir
“It’s nice to see a little recovery over the past couple of years, but there’s no reason to think that we’re headed back to conditions seen in the 1970s,” said NSIDC Director Mark Serreze, also a professor in CU-Boulder’s geography department. “We still expect to see ice-free summers sometime in the next few decades.” - Dr. Mark Serreze of NSIDC
