The rate of global warming has not slowed down, according to research by the US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The study, published in the journal Science, shows the warming rate of the past 15 years has been just as fast as in the last half of the 20th century.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment report previously concluded the warming trend from 1998-2012 was markedly lower than 1952-2012.

Climate change sceptics seized upon the so-called “hiatus” as evidence global warming is a myth.

But by adding in the past two years of data – the hottest years on record – and using improved data sets, NOAA concludes it is the hiatus that is the myth.

“Our new analysis suggests the apparent hiatus may have been largely the result of limitations in past data sets, and that the rate of warming over the first 15 years of this century has, in fact, been as fast or faster than that seen over the last half of the 20th century,” NOAA’s National Centres for Environmental Information director Thomas Karl said.