The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is meeting this week in Valencia, Spain, to adopt and approve the contents of its Fourth Assessment Report first released in February.

If expectations for the proceedings pan out, it seems quite likely that media will change their view of this organization, and begin attacking it as too conservative. In fact, in anticipation of this gathering, Agence France-Presse has already done so (emphasis added throughout):

Some voices, including from within the IPCC itself, fear the panel's grand report will be badly out of date before it is even printed. Others quietly criticize the organization as being too conservative in its appreciation of the climate threat.

Though AFP didn't admit it, the fear is that the final version of AR4 isn't nearly as alarmist as recent press reports and claims by Hollywoodans like Nobel Laureate Al Gore, Leonardo DiCaprio, Laurie David, and Sheryl Crow:

Best-selling science fiction author Michael Crichton has penned a glowing review of Bjorn Lomborg's soon to be released book "Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming."

For those unfamiliar, Lomborg is an adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Business School and former director of the Environmental Assessment Institute. Although he believes in anthropogenic global warming, his controversial view is that there are far more serious problems facing the planet that governments should spend time and money solving.

As a result, his "Skeptical Environmentalist" series of books continually evoke great debate internationally.

With that in mind, the following are snippets of Crichton's review of Lomborg's most recent installment (emphasis added, h/t Glenn Reynolds):