Registered Environmental Manager (REM) Practice Exam

The choice that exemplifies a small spatial scale impact is the construction of a dam. This activity typically affects a specific localized area, altering the immediate environment, ecology, and hydrology of the site where it is built. The impact of a dam can include changes to water flow, disruption of local ecosystems, and effects on nearby communities.

In contrast, desertification, global warming, and glacial retreat are processes that occur over much larger spatial scales. Desertification involves the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas, which can affect entire regions over extensive geographical areas. Global warming refers to the long-term rise in Earth’s average surface temperature due to human activities, impacting the planet as a whole. Glacial retreat is the process by which glaciers shrink and melt, which can also have far-reaching effects across vast regions and contribute to rising sea levels globally. Thus, while all options represent environmental impacts, the construction of a dam is most accurately classified as a small spatial scale impact.