Google Earth adds multimedia from partners including UNEP and Discovery

15 September 2006 12:41 GMT / By Amber Maitland

Google Earth has been expanded with new and added content from Google Earth partners to enhance the usefulness of the software.

New multimedia overlays give information initially provided by the UN Environmental Program, the Discovery Networks, and the US National Park Service. Users can access the information via a “Featured Content” option in the sidebar.

The UNEP overlay includes time-stamped images that illustrate 100 areas where environmental impact is most clearly noticeably, for example in the shrinking forests of the Amazon or the declining Aral Sea in Central Asia. The before and after photographs come from 30 years of aerial photography.

The Discovery Networks World Tour gives users the chance to watch videos about major world attractions, like King Tutankhamun’s tomb and various landmarks in cities. The National Park Service gives added visitor information about the 58 US National Parks, including trail guides.

With the Jane Goodall Institute’s involvement, users can visit Gombe preserve chimpanzees and follow their progress via a blog in Google Earth, while Turn Here gives free insider video guides to various cities, including New York and smaller places like Halmstad, Sweden.