What caught my attention was that the OP indicated that "this summer" might see the absence (ice free) North Pole. The OP was submitted in January of 2008.
Get your eyesight checked out, the date on the OP is June 28, 2008.
My only point being that the headline (at the time) was sensational and, in retrospect, incorrect
That that summer may have seen an ice free North Pole was a probabilistic statement. If I say the odds are 50-50 that you roll a 1, or a 2, or a 3 on a fair six sided die, and you roll a 5, the probabilistic statement wasn't wrong.