Resplandy Ocean (IMAGE) Princeton University Caption Princeton and Scripps researchers report that the world's oceans absorbed more than 13 zettajoules -- which is a joule, the standard unit of energy, followed by 21 zeroes -- of heat energy each year between 1991 and 2016. That's 150 times more heat energy each year than the energy humans produce as electricity annually. The estimate is 60 percent higher than that used in the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report. Credit Photo by Abigale Wyatt, Princeton Department of Geosciences Usage Restrictions None License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.