If the historical meaning of decimate is that one in ten are killed, then American women are suffering a fate much worse, and every year, according to this article:
Why People Are Wearing Red Today
... Since 1 in 3 women die of heart disease and stroke every year, the American Heart Association started the day to help spread the word that heart disease is 80 percent preventable. ...
Assuming aggressive compensating childbirth efforts, it will take only around 50 years for the human race to lose all females. Where will we be then?
There is ample evidence that this article needed better editing, but none stands out quite so much as the evidence above.
The same thing is copied around. Â No body stops to think.
M-W defines " something (such as a flood, tornado, fire, plane crash, etc.) that happens suddenly and causes much suffering or loss to many people"
I won't quibble about the suffering or loss (although an annual loss of 33% seems substantial, if it actually happened) but it's not a disaster if it's chronic rather than acute.
I presume they mean 1 in 3 of the women who die in any given year dies of heart disease or stroke.