A feature on the new beta version of Google Earth lets people examine areas of extreme environmental degradation around the world.

The past week has seen scientists urge that we have to make radical changes to the way we treat the environment, including lowering greenhouse gases, or we could face the consequences sooner than we realise.

These changes include evidence that old Arctic ice may be melting spectacularly fast, and greenhouse gas emissions are probably stoking the power of hurricanes, this environmental feature brings home vividly how the environment is changing.

Using time-stamped images from the United Nations Environmental Program , people can vividly see how 100 areas around the world that are considered crisis zones by the UN and environmentalists have changed for the worse over the last 30 years.

The before and after imagery used by the UNEP Atlas of our Changing World includes the deforestation of the Amazon, the fallout of raging forest fires in Sub-Sahara Africa and the decline of the Aral Sea in Central Asia.

The new beta version also includes data from the US National Park Service that lets users learn about natural recreation opportunities and includes detailed park descriptions, information on visitor facilities, and more than 10,000 miles of trails within all 58 US National Parks.

In addition, the environmental journey continues with flying visits to the Jane Goodall Institute . Using this overlay, people can visit Fifi and the other Gombe preserve chimpanzees and follow their daily exploits with the Institute’s "geo-blog" in Google Earth.

Updated daily, this geo-blog captures the work of the Jane Goodall Institute, illustrating the Institute’s research on chimpanzees and the effects of deforestation in Africa.

The new feature also includes the Discovery Networks World Tour. This overlay allows people to take a tour of major world attractions, cities, and natural wonders. It features streaming Discovery video segments, including the history of the gate of the Itsukushima Shrine in Japan.

People can access the overlays by clicking on the Featured Content checkbox in the Google Earth sidebar.