RIO DE JANEIRO -- More than 45,000 people flew around the world to participate in Brazil's second Earth Summit last week, and many left here wondering whether it was worth the trip. Yet despite a final Rio Declaration widely derided as a failure, dozens of attendees said they would do it all over again, mostly because they don't see a worthwhile alternative. Interviews with activists, business leaders, negotiators and others pointed to one clear theme: disappointment, edged by an unwillingness to nakedly say "never again" out of respect for the many side meetings, contacts and voluntary agreements Rio ultimately produced. Go to story #1

The sea level along much of the U.S. East Coast is rising three to four times faster than the global average, a rapid increase that government scientists expect to continue over the next several decades. Since 1990, the world's oceans have risen 0.02 to 0.04 inch per year. But along 600 miles of coastline between Cape Hatteras, N.C., and Boston, the climb has occurred much faster -- 0.08 to 0.15 inch per year during the same period. Go to story #2