Only 100 years ago

How's this for perspective:

The Northwest Passage was first successfully navigated in 1906.  That's barely 100 years ago.

I bet they didn't give a damn about Arctic sea ice loss back then.

In fact, they'd probably have been thrilled by the concept.  Much smoother sailing going without it.

Roald Amundsen's ship frozen in sea ice.  Photo from Wikipedia, here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Belgica_schiff.jpg