The world generates so much data that new unit measurements were created to keep up

Computer monitors show financial data. More data being created and stored necessitates the use of new unit measurements. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

As ever more digital data is created and stored, the world needs more unit measurements to keep up with the ever-expanding numbers.

To do so, the 27th General Conference on Weights and Measures on Friday introduced four new prefixes to the International System of Units, or metric system: ronna (27 zeroes after the first digit) and quetta (30 zeroes), which are now at the top of the measurement range, and ronto (27 zeroes after the decimal point) and quecto (30 zeroes), which are now at the bottom.