Climate-Consensus

The conclusion that is debated is 

• The climate has warmed in recent decades, and
• Human activities are already contributing adversely to global climate change

has been endorsed by every national science academy that has issued a statement on climate change, including the science academies of all of the major industrialized countries. (citation).  The reader is encouraged to check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_opinion_on_climate_change and read the specific policy statement of these academies.  

The debate has been: 1) over misstatements of proponents that "debate is over" and the "data is incontrovertible," which every competent scientist recognizes is not true; 2) the degree/amount of the warming; 3) whether the warming is good or bad; and, 4) whether opinions of non-climate scientists, such as that which makes up these academies, is credible and should be afforded any merit.
The complexity of this issue on the consensus is best borne out by American Meteorological Society (AMS).  In 2007, the AMS issued the information statement on "Climate Change": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Meteorological_Society

...there is adequate evidence from observations and interpretations of climate simulations to conclude that the atmosphere, ocean, and land surface are warming; that humans have significantly contributed to this change; and that further climate change will continue to have important impacts on human societies, on economies, on ecosystems, and on wildlife through the 21st century and beyond... Important goals for future work include the need to understand the relation of climate at the state and regional level to the patterns of global climate and to reverse the decline in observational networks that are so critical to accurate climate monitoring and prediction.

However, on March 15, 2012 Forbes reported Shock Poll: Meteorologists Are Global Warming Skeptics. This comment follows the results of the February 2012 survey of AMS members  which one should read in detail because it does not paint the picture as titled by the Forbes article, but does suggest the matter of global warming is not settled among those most likely to know.

Lastly one might want to reflect on this lecture by Matt Ridley: Scientific Heresy.

The obfuscation by both sides of this issue is intense, but it is reasonable to conclude

• The climate has warmed in recent decades,
• Human activities are already contributing adversely to global climate change, but the degree is not certain
• The science is NOT settled, facts are not incontrovertible, and opinion (aka consensus) is shifting
• Skeptics should encourage continued open-mindedness and discourage a rush to judgment