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Desolate earth could result from this (11)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

heartbroken

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'desolate' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?

'earth could result from this' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
an anagram of 'earth' is 'heart' which is present in the answer.
'from' could be 'e' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'e' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for heartbroken that I've seen before include "Full of sorrow" , "sad?" , "Grief-stricken" , "Suffering from intense grief" , "Extremely distressed" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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