Time again for our Website of the Week, when we showcase interesting and innovative online destinations.

This time we've got probably the newest major site on the web, a tremendous new resource for anyone interested in planet Earth. Launched just last Friday [April 27], the Earth Portal features the latest news about the environment, a forum for discussion, and the Encyclopedia of Earth, which already features more than 2,000 articles by experts in some 50 countries.

CLEVELAND:  "What the Encyclopedia of Earth seeks to do is to provide authoritative information about all the relevant environmental issues of the day, that have been reviewed and vetted by experts, that is written for a general lay audience, and that is free and free of advertising."

Professor Cutler Cleveland of Boston University is the editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of Earth, part of the Earth Portal at earthportal.org.

Four years in the making, the Earth Portal is a project of the Environmental Information Coalition. Senior member Peter Saundry highlights another feature: a continually updated news service called Earth News.

SAUNDRY:  "We have partnered with the Environmental News Network — very high quality information about environmental news. We have an RSS feed from them, which feeds in the latest news. And then over here on the left, we have news articles that authors and topic editors in the encyclopedia have identified and sent to us, which you can click through and read about."

The third part of the Earth Portal is the forum, which is a place for dialog between visitors and the scientists and other experts who contribute to the encyclopedia.

SAUNDRY:  "And they will post pieces on a daily basis on various topics. But we also invite the general public to participate, and you can post articles and comment on articles by the experts, and they get posted. And we already have a fledgling, ongoing dialogue between scientists writing the encyclopedia and the general public."

An exciting and brand-new addition to the web featuring high quality information about environmental science, written and edited by top scientists. Our Website of the Week is earthportal.org, or get the link from our site, voanews.com.