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.
category: Climate change in the Arctic