Human Impact on the Earth: Toronto's Leslie Street Spit

Alan Taylor
September 28, 2015
16 Photos
In Focus

In the middle of last century, Toronto began building a breakwater for its Outer Harbour on the northern shore of Lake Ontario. Soon after, developers began using the structure, named the Leslie Street Spit, as a dumping ground for sand, rubble, and earth dredged from hundreds of building projects in the city, expanding what was once just a thin strip of land in the city’s busy harbor. According to Reuters, this created “an unexpected urban oasis, bringing marshes, lagoons and forests to the center of Canada’s largest city.” Tommy Thompson Park was established on the spit, populated by various wildlife. As Reuters adds, “the passion of the cyclists, birders, hikers and naturalists who flock to the artificial peninsula every weekend has preserved the unlikely park in its unnatural state.” Ahead of the United Nations Climate Conference in Paris this December, Reuters will be releasing a series of stories, called “Earthprints,” focusing on the ability of humans to impact the landscape of the planet.

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An animated transition shows the development of Toronto, Canada, including its Leslie Street Spit, through NASA satellite images taken August 21, 1972, and again on August 22, 2015. #

NASA / Reuters

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Double-crested cormorants nest on a tree in front of the skyline as a plane flies by during sunset at Tommy Thompson Park, in Toronto, on May 26, 2015. #

Mark Blinch / Reuters

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An eastern cottontail rabbit hides in the grass at Tommy Thompson Park on June 24, 2015. #

Mark Blinch / Reuters

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Geese fly over Tommy Thompson Park in Toronto on May 24, 2015. #

Mark Blinch / Reuters

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A man fishes in Tommy Thompson Park on May 24, 2015. #

Mark Blinch / Reuters

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Double-crested cormorants nest on the Leslie Street Spit on June 24, 2015. #

Mark Blinch / Reuters

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Birdwatcher Lech Jedral photographs birds in Tommy Thompson Park on August 9, 2015. #

Mark Blinch / Reuters

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A painted turtle sits on a log on the Leslie Street Spit on June 24, 2015. #

Mark Blinch / Reuters

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Birds fly on the shores of Tommy Thompson Park, the skyline of Toronto in the background, on May 24, 2015. #

Mark Blinch / Reuters

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A cyclist rides at sunrise through Tommy Thompson Park on May 24, 2015. #

Mark Blinch / Reuters

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A bird sits on thistles on the Leslie Street Spit on August 9, 2015. #

Mark Blinch / Reuters

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The CN Tower is seen through branches in Tommy Thompson Park on May 24, 2015. #

Mark Blinch / Reuters

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Discarded building materials sit in Tommy Thompson Park on May 24, 2015. #

Mark Blinch / Reuters

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Double-crested cormorants nest in trees in front of the Toronto skyline in Tommy Thompson Park on May 24, 2015. #

Mark Blinch / Reuters

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Ring-billed fulls gather in Tommy Thompson Park in Toronto on June 24, 2015. #

Mark Blinch / Reuters

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The sun begins to rise over the skyline in Toronto on September 21, 2015. #

Mark Blinch / Reuters

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