Since the 1960s each decade has been hotter than the last, exactly as predicted by many climate models. But there has been some debate in the science community about whether or not this rate of warming is accelerating, particularly in light of last year's climate chaos.

A few months ago former NASA climatologist James Hansen, who published one of the main early papers warning the world about global warming, authored a study suggesting the rate of warming has jumped by 50 percent since 2010.

This was met with skepticism from colleagues, despite a degree of acceleration being predicted in some climate models.

"[Hansen's study is] not implausible but not particularly well supported by the literature," Berkeley climate scientist Zeke Hausfather told the Associated Press.

Now, a new study led by environmental scientist Audrey Minière from Paul Sabatier University in France has found signs of accelerating heating in ocean temperatures too.