10 March US Daylight Saving Time: Interesting Facts about Clock Transfers

On Sunday, March 10, in the morning at 2, the USA will switch to daylight saving time. Americans will move the clock one hour ahead, this will cause the sun to set an hour later, but you will have to get up an hour earlier, which for some time will break the regime of millions of Americans.

With all the seeming simplicity of this process with the transfer of time there is a lot of confusion. Edition Vox attempted to clarify all points of contention.

1) Why are we switching to summer time?

The transition to summer time in the United States began with the goal of saving energy during World War I and became the national standard in the 1960s.

The basic idea is to increase the number of daylight hours in the evening. If the sun sets in 20: 00 instead of 19: 00, then people spend less time with the lights on, thus saving energy.

It also means that in the morning people will sleep less, which also provides "savings" of light hours for the most productive time of day.

2) Does this transition really help save energy?

Estimated power savings due to time transfer cannot be established or absent.

Although summertime was introduced to save energy, there is no conclusive evidence that the current system actually reduces energy consumption. Research that assesses the energy impact of time transfer has come to conflicting conclusions. Time transfer somewhat reduces light consumption (and, consequently, energy consumption), but can increase the consumption of heat and alternating current, as well as gas consumption. Therefore, from the point of view of economy, this is a dubious action.

3) Why don't Arizona or Hawaii translate time?

Much of Arizona ignores daylight saving time, staying at standard time all year round. Fifty years ago, the state legislature chose not to transfer watches in the region. One of the reasons: the summer in Arizona is very hot, and the early sunset gives residents more time to enjoy the tolerable temperatures before going to bed.

Hawaii also does not switch to summer time. The island nation is the most southerly of all the states and rejected the idea of ​​translation, because it does not see a noticeable difference in daylight between the winter and summer months.

4) Didn't Florida adopt a bill to stop daylight saving time? And Californians also voted against such a transition.

Recently, several states have decided to follow the experience of Arizona and Hawaii, but with a twist: they want to stay year round at summer time, not at standard time.

In November 2018, Californians 60% voted for the state to remain at daylight saving time. But in order for this decision to come true, two-thirds of the state legislature must vote for it, but this has not happened yet. In addition, after this the Congress will have to approve the Congress, and this is a very long way.

In 2018, Florida lawmakers approved a proposal for the state to live day-to-year. The bill is still awaiting congressional approval before it comes into force.

So for the time being Floridians and Californians will be 10 March to transfer their watches along with everyone.

Фото: Depositphotos

5) What happens if summer time is canceled? Or if it will be used all year round?

The blogger and cartographer Andy Woodruff decided to present the possible impact of such a decision using card series.

The purpose of these maps is to show how ending daylight saving time or extending it throughout the year changes the number of days we have “reasonable” sunrise and sunset times.

A sensible, by Woodruff's definition, is the sunrise to 7 hours of the morning and the sunset after 17: 00 (so that you can supposedly spend some time in the sun before or after work).

When translating the time twice a year, which is now in force, many people in the US face an unreasonable time of sunrise most of the year.

If the transition to summer time was canceled (that is, if we simply adhered to the standard (winter) time all year), the dawn situation would have looked much better, but many would have experienced too early sunsets.

If the United States lived all year round for summer time, the situation with the sunrise would be worse for most people. But many more people could enjoy the sunshine after work.

In 2015, Stromberg proved that switching to summer time and having more light hours in the evenings can benefit people in an amazing amount of ways.

People are more active after work, so they are more likely to have more physical activity, rather than prefer a sitting rest.

Stromberg also cites some evidence of a decrease in the number of robberies if there are more light hours in the evenings.

“It could also lead to an economic benefit as people take short trips and buy things after work rather than before, so longer summer hours boost sales slightly,” he writes.

6) Is daylight saving time dangerous?

Little. When we set the clock forward by an hour, many of us lose an hour of sleep because of this. In the days after summer time, the biological clock of many people get off.

One hour of lost sleep sounds like a small change, but humans are very sensitive creatures. Minor sleep disturbances negatively affect health and weaken mental abilities.

And when our biological clock is knocked down, everything in us is not synchronized. Our bodies work on a schedule unfamiliar to them, in order to keep up with our actions. The production of enzymes is confused because the usual breakfast time is disturbed, and this in turn affects the entire body.

In 1999, researchers from Johns Hopkins and Stanford universities wanted to find out what was happening on the road when millions of drivers had a disturbed sleep schedule.

After analyzing the 2021 crash data for the year, they found a small but significant increase in road deaths on Monday after switching hours in spring: the number of fatal accidents rose to 83,5 on average on Monday after switching hours compared to the average 78,2 on typical Monday.

In addition, the number of injuries at the workplace and heart attacks is increasing for several days after the transfer of hours.

7) How can the United States cancel the transition to summer time or extend it for the whole year?

To do this, you need the appropriate decision of the Congress, but you should not expect that this will happen in the coming years.

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