= Solution
Open water absorbs more sunlight than bright <sea ice>, and melt ponds also lower the surface <albedo>. More absorbed heat promotes further melt and can be stored in the upper ocean, delaying autumn freezing. This <ice-albedo feedback> amplifies an initially forced loss during the sunlit season. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2008GL034007[Perovich and collaborators' 2008 measurements] identify solar heating of the upper ocean as the main heat source for enhanced bottom melting in their observed Beaufort Sea case. Feedback is especially important locally after open water develops; it does not supply solar heat during polar winter.
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