Columnist: Contrary to what many people believe, the number of species on Earth is probably not dwindling  Extinction is a natural process, and about as many species are likely to go extinct this year as went extinct in 1970
But the emergence of new species is also a natural process; there is no reason to doubt that new species are emerging at about the same rate as they have been for the last several centuries
In 1970 fewer new species emerged than went extinct.