Stormy Weather

Posted June 3, 2014 20:22 by Comments (16)

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Casual Sexism Kills

We learned today that hurricanes with feminine names kill three-times as many people as hurricanes with male names because: people don’t take them seriously:

Researchers at the University of Illinois analyzed data on fatalities from every hurricane that made landfall in the United States from 1950-2012.

“A hurricane with a relatively masculine name is estimated to cause 15.15 deaths, whereas a hurricane with a relatively feminine name is estimated to cause 41.84 deaths,” said the study.
“In other words, our model suggests that changing a severe hurricane’s name from Charley to Eloise could nearly triple its death toll.”
Scientists even disregarded two major storms in their analysis — Hurricane Katrina (2005) and Hurricane Audrey (1957) — because they took an outsized number of lives and could have skewed the results.
… Prior to the decision in the late 1970s to alternate male and female names, hurricanes were only given feminine names, a practice born out of the belief that storms, like women, were unpredictable.

Given that Wingnuttia doesn’t believe in climate change or even in related monster storms, we are waiting for someone to ban naming hurricanes with women’s names, you know, to save lives. After all, North Carolina banned the sea from rising.
You know it is coming. I predict that it will be Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-Wingnuttia), of course.

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16 responses to Stormy Weather

  1. Anomaly 100 June 3rd, 2014 at 22:32

    Maybe if we give them names like Brutus, or Bruiser.

  2. Anomaly 100 June 3rd, 2014 at 22:32

    Maybe if we give them names like Brutus, or Bruiser.

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