1. Chapter Eighteen The Modern World

2. Cultural Changes and Their Consequences • Urbanization and industrialization are recent phenomena that are having an impact on humans today. • Among the possible effects include an increase in the use of mutagenic substances. • The ability for physical mobility has an impact on gene flow and mating patterns. • Many factors, such as pollution, create different selective pressures than humans have faced in the past when we lived primarily in hunting-gathering societies.

3. The Role of Disease in Human Evolution • Disease is one selective factor that acts upon populations. • Today, the major predators of human populations are enemy populations, small organisms, and microorganisms. • Epidemiologists and paleopathologists study disease and injury in the fossil record. • The cultural switch to farming also had an impact on diseases. • Settled agricultural populations are more likely to suffer from epidemics and a generally higher frequency of common noninfectious diseases. • Changing diet plays a significant role.

4. The Earth at Risk • Although modern technology has made many peoples’ lives easier and longer, it has also put the entire planet at risk of destruction. • Nuclear, chemical, and biological warfare are of increasing concern. • The depletion of the ozone layer raises the risk of exposure to harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun. • Acid rain changes environments and creates new selective pressures by destroying food, water, and other resources. • The reduction of biological diversity is another serious issue, as is global warming.

5. The Control of Population • Many of the world’s current problems are directly related to the enormous increase in population. [Figure 18-1: Population projections]

6. Application of Anthropological Knowledge • The knowledge gained through anthropological investigation has practical applications. • Darwinian medicine: attempts to find evolutionary explanations for human vulnerability to various diseases and other medical conditions. • Forensic anthropologists apply the techniques of osteology and skeletal identification to legal problems.