One of the keys to human survival is our ability to manipulate our environment to meet our needs. When caves were unavailable, ancient humans learned to build shelter from sticks and mud. Later, ancient Romans discovered how to mix lime and water with volcanic ash to create cement. They built aqueducts to move water from distant sources to where it was needed for human use. They engineered roads, bridges, and dams. These adaptive feats changed landscapes and expanded opportunities for exploration and further human settlement.
Progress and Destruction
The accomplishments of human engineering skyrocketed during the industrial revolution that began in the late 1800s. In the technology booms to improve human living conditions, we caused environmental harm. Logging and mining coal to build and heat homes stripped and scarred the land. Burning coal to produce electricity created significant air pollution that blackened buildings and endangered human health. In the 1930s, poor farming practices created profound erosion, resulting in the Dust Bowl, one of the worst man-made disasters in U.S. history. Acid rain and toxic rivers from industrial pollution and dumping were environmental concerns of my childhood.
Turning the Tide
Fortunately, when we recognized the negative impacts of common practices and the toxic outputs of industrialization and technology, the people of the U.S. started grassroots actions that impelled local and national government to implement conservation efforts, regulate industrial wastes, and remediate environmental harm. Many human-created environmental crises were reversed or remediated and serve now as historical lessons.
That doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods. Urbanization and globalization have introduced issues – like light pollution, heat islands, stormwater runoff, and invasions of ecologically harmful non-native species – that can’t be regulated away. But we have the power, as individuals and communities, to take numerous actions and adopt practices to reduce our negative impact on nature and restore local ecosystems.
Actions to Take
Turn down lights at night to reduce light pollution
Nighttime lighting creates several harmful effects on wildlife. Birds migrate twice each year, and most of them fly those long distances at night. Bright, upward directed lighting on buildings and houses can confuse migrating birds, drawing them off their routes and causing them to circle the illuminated area. They’re wasting precious energy and sometimes fatally strike buildings. Outdoor nighttime lights also disrupt firefly reproduction. These bioluminescent, nocturnal beetles rely on their glowing appendages to find mates, but their subtle glows and flashes only show when it’s dark. Just as it does with humans, continuous exposure to light messes up the circadian rhythms of wildlife and changes their behavior. Perpetual lighting also masks seasonal changes that initiate dormancy in trees, plants, and hibernating animals, subjecting them to frost and freeze injury. Plus, if we allow dark to happen, we can rediscover the amazing beauty of the star-lit night sky.
Slow down and increase attention when driving at dawn and dusk
The Federal Highway Administration estimates that there are up to 2 million wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) every year. Most of these occur between dawn and dusk when deer, raccoons, and other crepuscular animals are foraging and moving about. In addition to killing millions of wild animals, including 21 species that are listed as threatened or endangered, WVCs cause human injury (26,000 per year) and over $8 million in financial losses.
Clean, drain, and dry boats
Invasive aquatic plants, fish, and mussels are introduced to new bodies of water through boating. To prevent the spread, every time you pull your boat out of the water:
- Clean the hull, interior, and motor with pressurized water – hot is best – before you leave the water access area to remove all plants, animals, and mud.
- Drain the motor, bilge, livewell, and other water holding areas before leaving the water access.
- Dry everything for at least five days – or wipe everything dry with a towel – before going back into the water.
Don’t move firewood
Moving firewood from home to a camping spot – and vice versa – can spread Emerald Ash Borers and other destructive invasive insects to new areas much faster than they could travel the distance on their own.
Plant native plants
Habitat loss is a primary cause of declining populations of native insects and wildlife. Include a variety of native plants in your landscape to provide food, habitat, and nesting materials while restoring native biodiversity to the neighborhood ecosystem.
Identify, report, and remove invasive plants
Non-native, invasive plants pose a critical threat to ecosystems throughout the U.S. They out-compete the native plants and can create monocultures that don’t support native insects, birds, and wildlife, causing the local ecosystem to collapse. Non-native, invasive Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum) changes soil characteristics, making it difficult for native plants to grow. This plant is pervasive in forests, parks, and landscapes throughout Georgia, but it is easy to remove.
Become an Environmental Action Hero
Join UGA Extension and Forsyth County Parks and Recreation to learn about invasive plants and become part of a community effort to remove Japanese stiltgrass from our passive parks. We’re offering Environmental Action Workshops in several county parks from June through September. Come join the ranks of Forsyth County Environmental Action Heroes! Visit https://extension.uga.edu/county-offices/forsyth.html for dates, locations, and registration.