Care should be observed in the interchangeability of Effect/Impact when used as a verb. As noted in OED, Effect (v) is defined as "to make something happen," whereas Impact (v) is defined as "Come into forcible contact with another object." As a visual of the difference, consider the following sentence: “When a train impacts a stranded automobile, the collision effects the condition of the vehicle and its passengers.”

Origin of Impact, per OED, states:

Early 17th century (as a verb in the sense 'press closely, fix firmly'): from Latin impact- 'driven in', from the verb impingere.

Impinge from mid 16th century: The word impinge is from Latin impingere ‘drive something in or at’, from in- ‘into’ and pangere ‘fix, drive’. The word originally meant ‘thrust at forcibly’. Impact (early 17th century) comes from the past form of the same source.

The use of Impact as a verb to indicate greater Effect seems to have come into use in the 1960s. I observed this at that time being used by those who were desperate to strengthen both the effect and impact of their words to defend a weak position or field of study. I was particularly perturbed by those in the field of Education, who should have known better, misusing "Impact" in an attempt to gain validation from the scientific community for their research. I understood their frustration with the dismissiveness afforded their scholarly research, especially from those who viewed study of education as nonscientific. However, it seemed counterproductive for those who should have a proper command of the language to abuse it for egocentric purpose.

As an aside, one might be interested to know that this happened at a time when "baby boomers" flooded public schools, and thus created a desperate need for teachers. As a consequence of this need, many college students who could not survive in any other discipline were able to complete a degree program in Education, which had the least stringent prerequisites. Among this glut of new teachers entering the school systems, many of these graduates were little more than "warm bodies" in the classroom. This, in my humble opinion, sounded the death knell in American public education.