Could massive amounts of rainfall in Australia have deprived the Arctic of fresh water so there was less sea ice?
NSIDC: “Water from the Pacific Ocean and several rivers in Russia and Canada provide fresher, less dense water to the Arctic Ocean. So the Arctic Ocean has a layer of cold, fresh water near the surface with warmer, saltier water below. This cold, fresh water layer typically allows more ice growth in the Arctic than the Antarctic.”
NCAR: ” when three atmospheric patterns came together over the Indian and Pacific oceans, they drove so much precipitation over Australia in 2010 and 2011 that the world’s ocean levels dropped measurably.”
sunshine hours 
OT, but here is a beauty gem…I believe you posted a blog here that Alberta’s temps have been declining over the last X years….but CAGW is coming…
http://www.abmi.ca/abmi/aboutabmi/aboutabmi.jsp?categoryId=30&showNews=true&newsId=487
6.5C possibly in 100 years…go figure….(still shaking head).
Cold Layer? Did I read that right? 10 seconds on the internet tells me August average Mackenzie river temp is 15 degrees C while the Beaufort Sea it drains into is considerably colder. Am I missing something here?
I suspect the NSIDC is missing something.