Heisann,

that is a really cool question, and I had to think about it.

Myth: The Gulf Stream will stop and we will all freeze to death. Well, the Gulf Stream is slowing and we might eventually see it stopping, but not within a day. New York, you are save in this respect. Interestingly, a similar thing was found in the Southern Ocean recently: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-65120327

Another myth: The ice is dead. While glacier ice is pretty dense and only a few pretty bad ass microbes manage to life in there (snow algae, etc.), sea ice is pretty porous and a lof of stuff lives in the small channels. Fish, crustaceans, a whole array of planktonic critters, and of course my beloved microbes as well. But as so often, we know very little about it.

Fact: There are many things that deserve more attention. i think most people finally got this climate change thing and the melting of the ice etc. and that it is not a good thing. But what many people don't talk about is e.g. the effect on arctic communities. The change in the environment, especially with less snow and ice, can have severe impacts on the locals that traditionally life under these conditions and need them, e.g. to get their lifestock to the summer pastures by crossing a frozen river. The river is not frozen anymore and they have to change their lifes completely.

Another fact: Changes in the spring timing. I just recently read that in some regions spring is now on average nearly three weeks earlier (not this year in Norway though...). This means, plants are blossoming earlier, insects hatch earlier, but the larger animals, like birds, might still come late from their winter quarters. They lay eggs, but the peak insect season is over when they hatch, so what to feed the young ones on? This is just one example, it is probably similar for many animals and plants, which phase changes in the annual rhythm. This could get problematic, but i haven't seen much attention to it.