claim: Since the end of 2012, moreover, total polar ice extent has largely remained above the post-1979 average.
evidence: It continued to fall, bottoming out on 16 September 2012 at 3.41 million square kilometers ( 1.32 million square miles ), or 760,000 square kilometers ( 293,000 square miles ) below the previous low set on 18 September 2007 and 50% below the 1979–2000 average.