Occasionally true. More frequently, talking heads like to take a half understanding of a scientific prediction and make invalid or unsupported conclusions.
What's key to remember is that predictions are calculations made on current conditions, and the concern they generate often cause a change in the current conditions. Call many of them self-defeating prophecies, if you will.
A good example we can likely all remember is the ozone layer freak-out of the mid-1980's. The press generated by predictions of depletion rate caused product manufacturers to change the propellants they use in aerosol cans, to avoid consumer backlash, and eventually governments to change permissible chemicals used as refrigerant and fire suppression. Result? The ozone layer depletion reversed.
So, were those making the original predictions wrong? No. If we had stayed the course we were on, rather than adjusting, things would have continued much as predicted. We changed the conditions, therefore invalidating the prediction. This cycle has been repeated countless times, on many fronts.
