Human Impacts In A/B Partners think and discuss the following situations. Explain how the individual in each situations has an impact on his or her environment  A student throwing a candy wrapper on the ground  A student riding a mountain bike on a thin trail through the forest  A farmer plowing a field  A person involved in a mining operation  A fisheries biologist adding trout to a lake  A biologist cleaning oil off the wings of a duck  Can you think of one more impact an individual could make?

Human Impacts Good or Bad? Many times humans think they are trying to help the ecosystem but their help has unseen consequences For example Since Yoho became a National Park forest fires have become more managed and monitored. The decision to control fires was in the best interest of the wildlife, people, and park. However, since there are no longer any fires, the trees have grown taller. The result is there is not enough light for the young aspen trees to grow. Since this tree is a preferred food and shelter for beavers, beavers are no longer able to live in this area. What meant to be a good impact turned out to have an unintended negative impact on the beaver.

Human Impacts Humans have the biggest impact on ecosystems than any other living thing. No other species moves in and out of different ecosystems as humans do Our huge leaps in technology has affected the amount and type of waste we produce. As long as we have been on this planet, we have produced waste materials.

What type of waste did humans have in the past? How did humans dispose of waste?

Biodegradable? Orange Peels – 6 months Pop Rings – 450+ years Milk Cartons – 5 years Tin Cans – years Paper – 2-5 months

Dealing with Our Garbage Today we now use a lot of materials, like plastic, that cannot be broken down, or produce so much of it that the natural cycle cannot keep up. In the past, it was common for garbage to be poured into large pits called ‘dumps’. Dumps are smelly and looked unattractive. Sometimes they caught fire, polluting the air with sooty, foul smoke. Rainwater often washed dangerous chemicals and disease causing bacteria from the dumps into local water systems. Fort Smith still has a dump and until recent years was not monitored is any way. Think about the potential impact of waste products on the environment. How have our needs and wants affected the types of garbage we produce? What has been done to clean up our act?

The Garbage Solution Have we started cleaning up our act? How? Recycling Composting Incinerating Sanitary Landfills Household Hazardous Waste

The Garbage Solution Sanitary Landfills are similar to landfills. Wastes are spread across the ground and compacted by bulldozers. A layer of soil is spread over the compacted waste to reduce odors, litter and animals activity. Unlike landfills these are designed not to leak or seep into the surrounding ground and water Recycling includes paper, glass, metal cans, aluminum foil and some plastics. Items are separated, sorted, crushed, compacted and transported for reprocessing