According to CNN, “sexism isn’t just a social problem — if you’re in the path of a hurricane, gender bias might actually kill you.”

So now we know. Great.

CNN today boasted that a new study proves hurricanes are even worse than catastrophic acts of God that decimate people and property – they are also politically incorrect.

CNN highlighted a study that claims people prepare differently based on the name of a hurricane. If the name is male or female makes a big difference:

“‘Feminine-named hurricanes (vs. masculine-named hurricanes) cause significantly more deaths, apparently because they lead to a lower perceived risk and consequently less preparedness,’ a team of researchers wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“In other words, a hurricane named “Priscilla” probably wouldn’t be taken as seriously as a hurricane named ‘Bruno,’ which might spark more fear and prompt more people to flee.”

Researchers claim to have analyzed deaths from hurricanes from 1950 to 2012. They also said that changing a hurricane name from male to female could triple the death total:

“‘For severe storms, where taking protective action would have the greatest potential to save lives, the masculinity-femininity of a hurricane’s name predicted its death toll,’ the study said.”

But many are already rejecting the hypothesis of this study. Jeff Lazo works for the National Centre for Atmospheric Research. He says that this pattern is nothing more than a ‘statistical fluke.’ Besides, all hurricane names were female prior to 1979. And hurricanes have become less deadly over time. This is also because emergency responders and weather predictions have become more efficient thanks to technology.

But researches of the controversial study also conducted an experiment to back up their claims:

“In one experiment, participants predicted the intensity of 10 hurricanes — five with female names and five with male names. The male hurricanes were deemed more intense — regardless of the gender of the participant.

“In another test, participants were asked to judge the risks of a hypothetical ‘Hurricane Alexander’ and a ‘Hurricane Alexandra.’ Despite being told both had uncertain intensity, respondents considered Hurricane Alexander to be riskier.

“A third experiment tested whether participants would be more likely to evacuate due to a ‘Hurricane Christopher’ vs. a ‘Hurricane Christina.’ As expected, more people would flee their homes if Hurricane Christopher came barreling toward them compared to an impending Hurricane Christina.”

But at the heart of the study, as CNN admits, is a belief that hurricanes were given female names for decades because of sexism:

“For decades, all hurricanes were given female names in part because hurricanes were unpredictable, the study said, citing the ‘Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons and Cyclones.’

“‘This practice came to an end in the late 1970s with increasing societal awareness of sexism, and an alternating male-female naming system was adopted,’ the report said.
Each year’s list of hurricane names is alphabetical, alternating between male and female monikers.”

It seems if you dig deep enough or go back far enough you’ll find evidence of racism or sexism in just about everything, according to left-wing outlets like CNN anyway.

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BY Alan Moore

| Managing Editor
