http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/IMAGES/seaice.anomaly.arctic.png

Arctic ice area declined from 1988 to about 2006, and since then has been flat, corresponding to the shift in the PDO.

The amount of multi-year ice reported by NSIDC shows a similar pattern.

http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/2011/040511.html

The death spiral seems to have hit a brick wall.