As documented in the book, "The War on Science" (Shawn Otto, Milkweed Edition, 2016), and elsewhere, the war on science is real and has been going on for over a century and is led by conservatives both religious and political as well as corporate. The cited lag in the Surgeon General's report from the original medical article was due to corporate and political inertia and attack. There are literally tons of data and information confirming AGW, and quibbling over the exact number of scientists accepting the results and predictions is trivial since the number is an overwhelming majority.
I agree with the last paragraph. Good science journalism is a too-rare commodity since many do not read past the headlines (and are also incapable of comprehending risk analysis). The mission for scientists is to write more and better for public consumption.
In Response to: Mistrust of Scientists