Well, "they" didn't tell my dogs. They woke me up at their usual time this morning of 6am, except it was only 5am. Since dogs can't tell time, they just woke with their natural body rhythm and the new found 5am morning sunlight and said "DAD! TIME TO GET UP!"
So, as I sit here with my newfound hour of time that I was told would mean an extra hour of sleep, I thought I'd post a brief history of how and why we use Daylight Saving Time and why it just ended for this year. By the way, most people call it "Savings" time, which is technically incorrect. It's Saving, not Savings... but it doesn't matter. Personally, I think the whole thing is silly and should be done away with...
Even though this isn't a "Yester-Year Retro Memory," it is something that we all have dealt with in years gone by.
On to the history lesson!
The German Empire and Austria-Hungary implemented the first nationwide use of Daylight Saving Time (DST) on April 30, 1916. Many countries have adopted DST or something similar since then, particularly after the 1970's energy crisis. Countries close to the equator typically do not follow Daylight Saving as the sunrise times do not vary enough to justify it. Looking at the world as a whole, only a minority of the world's population uses DST; Asia and Africa do not observe it for the most part. Even certain parts of The United States do not follow DST, such as Arizona and Hawaii.
Due to the Earth's tilt, areas North and South of the equator see longer days in summer and shorter days in winter. The effect becomes more drastic the further you move from the equator. While the times of sunrise and sunset change at roughly equal rates as the seasons change, people who argue in favor of DST contend most people prefer a greater increase in daylight hours after a typical work day. Supporters also claim an increase in energy efficiency due to a reduced need for electric lighting or heating of the house, but this has yet to be proven.
Shifting times and clocks dates back to ancient civilizations. The Romans kept time using water clocks with different scales for different months of the year. In 1810, Spain issued a regulation that moved governmental meeting times forward one hour between May and September in recognition of seasonal changes but did not actually change the clocks. At this time in Europe, private businesses were often in the practice of changing opening hours to suit daylight conditions.
New Zealand entomologist George Hudson was the first to propose modern DST. In his leisure time, he collected insects, which led him to value daylight after his work hours. He wrote a paper published in 1895 suggesting a two-hour daylight time shift. English builder William Willett independently conceived a similar idea when, in 1905, he took a pre-breakfast ride and observed how many Londoners would sleep through a large part of the summer day.
The clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. The United States Department of Transportation has, at times, identified a reduction in traffic fatalities between 1 and 5% due to DST. However, it has been found that accidents do increase by as much as 11% following the end of DST. It is not clear whether sleep disruption contributes to the fatal accidents or not. A 2009 study found that on Mondays after the switch to DST, workers sleep an average of 40 minutes less than normal.
DST also has a mixed review on public health. It alters sunlight exposure, which could potentially trigger a little extra Vitamin D and uplift mood and overall health. The clock shift, though, was found to increase the risk of heart attack by just over 10%. Disrupted sleep and circadian rhythm effects can be severe and last for weeks. A 2008 Swedish study found that heart attacks were significantly more common during the first three workdays after the spring transition. In a similar study, it states that the lost hour of sleep during the spring "forward" results in a sleep loss lasting at least a week afterward. In 2015, a national psychology organization began recommending that DST be abolished, citing its disruptive effects on sleep.
In recent years, a move towards a "Permanent Daylight Saving Time" has begun. Several countries, such as Iceland, Argentina, Morocco, and Namibia, have already implemented Permanent DST. Russia temporarily switched to permanent DST from 2011-2014, but the move was unpopular because of the very late sunrises in winter, so the country then switched to Permanent Standard Time in 2014.
Here in the United, Florida, Washington, California, and Oregon have all passed bills enacting permanent DST but the bills would require national Congressional approval to take effect. Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island have all made similar proposals. Under US law, however, even though sites wish to make DST permanent unless Congress changes federal law, the states cannot implement permanent DST. They can only opt out of DST... not out of Standard Time.
Starting in 2021, the European Union has directed that the adjustments of clocks will cease and that member states have the option of observing standard or summer time all year round.
Here's to hoping that America decides the same. While it seems unlikely, many prominent figures are in favor of abolishing the biannual clock change.
President Trump tweeted his support in March of 2019.
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