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"The world's scientists agree that XYZ" carries almost no weight with me, because I know that this characterization has been distorted in the past. "Data X, Y, and Z demonstrate" carries all kinds of weight with me.
This is what James is driving at: an ever-more-emotional plea that "experts agree" is misplaced. We don't believe in gravity because experts agree. We believe it because we have seen the evidence and been convinced by it.
On climate change especially, MOST Americans suspect that the appeals to authority have been exaggerated or worse. Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" is representative of the reason that most Americans simply do not buy in.
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What would be your short, clear, convincing argument that persuades me that our climate is in great peril? Without appeal to authority?
I am VERY friendly to this. I would ENJOY seeing a concise, 300-word summary of the reasons that it is rational to believe that the planet is in imminent danger. Because it is very easy to provide a 300-word summary of why it makes sense to allocate money for feeding poor people, right? :- )