2007-2008學(xué)年 第20期
By Andy Coghlan 劉穎 譯
A rising tide of divorce is taking a huge toll on the planet, warns a groundbreaking analysis of the environmental impact of divorce.
The environmental cost of a marriage splitting occurs because couples and their families move into separate properties after divorce — meaning they collectively occupy more space, burn more energy, and consume more water than they did as a family unit.
“Divorced households are smaller than married households, but consume more land, water, and energy per person than married households,” says Jianguo Liu of Michigan State University in East Lansing, US, who carried out the 12-country analysis with colleague Eunice Yu.
In the US, for example, 627 billion gallons of water, the use of 38 million rooms, and 734 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity would have been saved in 2005 alone if no-one had got divorced.
In the same year, divorced households spent 46% more on electricity and 56% more on water per person than if they had stayed married. And following a split, US households consumed 42 to 61% more resources per person than while married.
Staying together
And the problem is likely to get worse, warns Liu. Between 1970 and 2000, the proportion of households headed by divorcees soared from 5 to 15% of all US households. Divorces are also steadily increasing in China, note the authors, where divorce rates have traditionally been low.
“Divorce escalates consumption of increasingly limited resources,” the authors warn.
Liu urges governments to publicise the hitherto unanticipated environmental costs of divorce, and couples to consider the potential impacts of a divorce before going ahead.
He found that resource consumption shrank to what it had been originally if divorced couples remarry.
參考譯文：
根據(jù)一份離婚對(duì)環(huán)境產(chǎn)生影響的開(kāi)創(chuàng)性分析報(bào)告，不斷上漲的離婚潮正對(duì)地球造成嚴(yán)重的不良影響。
婚姻破裂增加環(huán)境成本，是因?yàn)殡x婚之后，夫妻及家人分居，這就意味著他們占用的空間、燃耗的能源、消費(fèi)的水比他們同居一處的時(shí)候要多。
“離婚家庭比婚姻穩(wěn)定家庭規(guī)模小，但是他們?nèi)司恋卣加妹娣e、水及能源消費(fèi)量卻大于婚姻穩(wěn)定家庭，”美國(guó)東蘭辛的密歇根州立大學(xué)的劉建國(guó)說(shuō)道。他和同事尤妮斯•于對(duì)12個(gè)國(guó)家做了分析。
比如說(shuō)，在美國(guó)，假如2005年沒(méi)有人離婚，那么當(dāng)年就能節(jié)省6270億加侖水，3800萬(wàn)處寓所和7340億千瓦時(shí)電。
同年，美國(guó)離婚家庭人均多消耗了46%的電和56%的水。離婚之后，美國(guó)家庭人均多消耗42%至61%的能源。
生活在一起
劉建國(guó)警告說(shuō)，這種問(wèn)題可能會(huì)惡化。1970年至2000年之間，美國(guó)離婚家庭的比率從5%劇增至15%。研究人員談到，中國(guó)的離婚率也在持續(xù)增長(zhǎng)，而以前中國(guó)的離婚率一直很低。
他們警告說(shuō)：“離婚加快了對(duì)日益貧乏的資源的消耗?！?BR> 劉建國(guó)敦促政府公開(kāi)人們迄今未曾料到的離婚造成的環(huán)境成本增加，并力勸夫妻們考慮好離婚可能造成的影響再做決定。
他發(fā)現(xiàn)，如果離婚夫妻再婚，資源消耗量又會(huì)縮減回來(lái)的水平。
By Andy Coghlan 劉穎 譯
A rising tide of divorce is taking a huge toll on the planet, warns a groundbreaking analysis of the environmental impact of divorce.
The environmental cost of a marriage splitting occurs because couples and their families move into separate properties after divorce — meaning they collectively occupy more space, burn more energy, and consume more water than they did as a family unit.
“Divorced households are smaller than married households, but consume more land, water, and energy per person than married households,” says Jianguo Liu of Michigan State University in East Lansing, US, who carried out the 12-country analysis with colleague Eunice Yu.
In the US, for example, 627 billion gallons of water, the use of 38 million rooms, and 734 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity would have been saved in 2005 alone if no-one had got divorced.
In the same year, divorced households spent 46% more on electricity and 56% more on water per person than if they had stayed married. And following a split, US households consumed 42 to 61% more resources per person than while married.
Staying together
And the problem is likely to get worse, warns Liu. Between 1970 and 2000, the proportion of households headed by divorcees soared from 5 to 15% of all US households. Divorces are also steadily increasing in China, note the authors, where divorce rates have traditionally been low.
“Divorce escalates consumption of increasingly limited resources,” the authors warn.
Liu urges governments to publicise the hitherto unanticipated environmental costs of divorce, and couples to consider the potential impacts of a divorce before going ahead.
He found that resource consumption shrank to what it had been originally if divorced couples remarry.
參考譯文：
根據(jù)一份離婚對(duì)環(huán)境產(chǎn)生影響的開(kāi)創(chuàng)性分析報(bào)告，不斷上漲的離婚潮正對(duì)地球造成嚴(yán)重的不良影響。
婚姻破裂增加環(huán)境成本，是因?yàn)殡x婚之后，夫妻及家人分居，這就意味著他們占用的空間、燃耗的能源、消費(fèi)的水比他們同居一處的時(shí)候要多。
“離婚家庭比婚姻穩(wěn)定家庭規(guī)模小，但是他們?nèi)司恋卣加妹娣e、水及能源消費(fèi)量卻大于婚姻穩(wěn)定家庭，”美國(guó)東蘭辛的密歇根州立大學(xué)的劉建國(guó)說(shuō)道。他和同事尤妮斯•于對(duì)12個(gè)國(guó)家做了分析。
比如說(shuō)，在美國(guó)，假如2005年沒(méi)有人離婚，那么當(dāng)年就能節(jié)省6270億加侖水，3800萬(wàn)處寓所和7340億千瓦時(shí)電。
同年，美國(guó)離婚家庭人均多消耗了46%的電和56%的水。離婚之后，美國(guó)家庭人均多消耗42%至61%的能源。
生活在一起
劉建國(guó)警告說(shuō)，這種問(wèn)題可能會(huì)惡化。1970年至2000年之間，美國(guó)離婚家庭的比率從5%劇增至15%。研究人員談到，中國(guó)的離婚率也在持續(xù)增長(zhǎng)，而以前中國(guó)的離婚率一直很低。
他們警告說(shuō)：“離婚加快了對(duì)日益貧乏的資源的消耗?！?BR> 劉建國(guó)敦促政府公開(kāi)人們迄今未曾料到的離婚造成的環(huán)境成本增加，并力勸夫妻們考慮好離婚可能造成的影響再做決定。
他發(fā)現(xiàn)，如果離婚夫妻再婚，資源消耗量又會(huì)縮減回來(lái)的水平。