The cost of divorce could be blamed for increasing carbon-footprints and help killing the planet according to a 12 country analysis of the environment impact of broken marriage. 

When families beak-up, their families move into separate properties, so collectively occupy more space, use more water, consume more energy than they did as a family unit. Divorced households are smaller than married households but use more land, water and energy per person than married households, says Jianguo Liu of Michigan State University, East Lansing. 

In US, ones carbon-footprint could be reduce, if 2.37 trillion litres of water, 38 million rooms and 734bn kilowatt-hours of electricity would have been saved in 2005 alone if no one had got divorced. Divorced households spent 46-per-cent more electricity and 56-per-cent more water per-person than if they had stayed married. Following a split, US households used up 42-61-per-cent more resources per-person than married. 

The problem is likely to be exacerbated, Liu warns. Between 1970 and 2000, the proportion of US households headed by divorcees rose from 5-15-per-cent. Divorces are also steadily increasing in China.