Thank you for a complex and thoughtful comment. People who have not studied science have no idea how complex and intertwined various factors are.
For example I recall seeing several years ago something about East Anglia reporting a slowing(cooling?) of the Gulf Stream. I think this may have been the origin of some of the funny business that went on subsequently of trying to protect the Global Warming hypothesis. On the other hand it could have just as easly been argued that GW was melting the polar ice, causing a reduction in super salty water due to freezing of surface ice, and thus slowing down the North Atlantic Oscillation. Thus one could easily say that GW was causing Gulf Stream cooling.
At any rate, it is all very complex, it needs to be studied with an open mind. Scientists should stop having to justify their funding on the basis of whether their research supports one idea or another. Unfortunately, the need for basic research is seriously undervalued, including by a lot of people here at FR.
The super salty water drives the current by sinking. It doesn't really matter how much ice melts, only how much freezes each year. Right now with extremely negative NAO and AO (or temps of -20F instead of -30F) there won't be as much Arctic ice created, but probably plenty to keep the current going.