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DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME: Difference between revisions

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(New page: left|thumb|150px|DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME. The main purpose of Daylight Saving Time is to make better use of daylight. We change our clocks during the summer months to move ...)
 
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[[Image:dst.jpg|left|thumb|150px|]]DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME. The main purpose of Daylight Saving Time is to make better use of daylight. We change our clocks during the summer months to move an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening.
[[Image:dst.jpg|left|thumb|150px|]]DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME. Daylight Saving Time (DST) is a system to reduce electricity usage by extending daylight hours. For eight months out of the year, the US and dozens of other countries follow DST, and for the remaining four months, revert back to standard time in order to take full advantage of the sunlight. On the second Sunday of March at 2 a.m., clocks move forward one hour. Then, on the first Sunday of November at 2 a.m., the clocks turn back an hour. The time shifts match the seasons: Clocks “spring” forward an hour in March and “fall” back in November.  


Daylight Saving Time was used in the United States during [[WORLD WAR I]] in order to save energy for war production by taking advantage of the later hours of daylight between April and October. During [[WORLD WAR II]], the federal government again required the states to observe the time change. Between the wars and after World War II, states and communities chose whether or not to observe Daylight Saving Time. In 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, which standardized the length of Daylight Saving Time.
Benjamin Franklin appeared to have first mentioned it in 1784, when he wrote a letter to the editor of the '''Journal of Paris''' Daylight Saving Time was first used in the United States during [[WORLD WAR I]] in order to save energy for war production by taking advantage of the later hours of daylight between April and October. During [[WORLD WAR II]], the federal government again required the states to observe the time change. Between the wars and after World War II, states and communities chose whether or not to observe Daylight Saving Time. For years, the United States observed DST from the first Sunday of April to the last Sunday of October. (1)


Daylight Saving Time is four weeks longer since 2007 due to the passage of the Energy Policy Act in 2005. The Act extended Daylight Saving Time by four weeks from the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November, with the hope that it would save 10,000 barrels of oil each day through reduced use of power by businesses during daylight hours. Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine energy savings from Daylight Saving Time. Based on a variety of factors, it is possible that little or no energy is saved by Daylight Saving Time.
In 1959 the Dubuque Committee for Daylight Time was again organized in May to contact legislators and promote the change. The committee was especially interested in seeking the change because both Illinois and Wisconsin had adopted the measure. (2) In 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, which standardized the length of Daylight Saving Time.


Many people intensely dislike Daylight Saving Time. Widespread confusion was created during the 1950s and 1960s when each U.S. locality could start and end Daylight Saving Time as it desired. One year, 23 different pairs of DST start and end dates were used in Iowa. For exactly five weeks each year, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia were not on the same time as Washington D.C., Cleveland, or Baltimore--but Chicago was. And, on one Ohio to West Virginia bus route, passengers had to change their watches seven times in 35 miles. The situation led to millions of dollars in costs to several industries, especially those involving transportation and communications. Extra railroad timetables alone cost the today's equivalent of over $12 million per year.
In 2005, President George W. Bush extended DST an extra four weeks, officially taking effect in 2007. The March-November system the United States follows began in 2007, but the concept of “saving daylight” is much older. (3)


Frequent complaints are the inconvenience of changing many clocks and adjusting to a new sleep schedule. For most people, this is a small nuisance, but some people with sleep disorders find this transition very difficult. There is evidence that the severity of auto accidents increases and work productivity decreases as people adjust to the time change.


Some argue that the energy savings implied by DST is offset by the energy used by those living in warm climates to cool their homes during summer afternoons and evenings. The argument can also be made that more evening hours of light encourage people to run errands and visit friends, thus consuming more gasoline.
 
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Source:
 
1. Ahmed, Saffeya, "Why and When the US Started Changing the Clock," Online: https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/03/us/daylight-saving-time-history-trnd/index.html
 
2. "Daylight Time Group Formed by Dubuquers," ''Telegraph-Herald'', May 3, 1959, p. 1
 
3. Ahmed


[[Category: Events]]
[[Category: Events]]

Latest revision as of 21:57, 25 January 2021

Dst.jpg

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME. Daylight Saving Time (DST) is a system to reduce electricity usage by extending daylight hours. For eight months out of the year, the US and dozens of other countries follow DST, and for the remaining four months, revert back to standard time in order to take full advantage of the sunlight. On the second Sunday of March at 2 a.m., clocks move forward one hour. Then, on the first Sunday of November at 2 a.m., the clocks turn back an hour. The time shifts match the seasons: Clocks “spring” forward an hour in March and “fall” back in November.

Benjamin Franklin appeared to have first mentioned it in 1784, when he wrote a letter to the editor of the Journal of Paris Daylight Saving Time was first used in the United States during WORLD WAR I in order to save energy for war production by taking advantage of the later hours of daylight between April and October. During WORLD WAR II, the federal government again required the states to observe the time change. Between the wars and after World War II, states and communities chose whether or not to observe Daylight Saving Time. For years, the United States observed DST from the first Sunday of April to the last Sunday of October. (1)

In 1959 the Dubuque Committee for Daylight Time was again organized in May to contact legislators and promote the change. The committee was especially interested in seeking the change because both Illinois and Wisconsin had adopted the measure. (2) In 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, which standardized the length of Daylight Saving Time.

In 2005, President George W. Bush extended DST an extra four weeks, officially taking effect in 2007. The March-November system the United States follows began in 2007, but the concept of “saving daylight” is much older. (3)


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Source:

1. Ahmed, Saffeya, "Why and When the US Started Changing the Clock," Online: https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/03/us/daylight-saving-time-history-trnd/index.html

2. "Daylight Time Group Formed by Dubuquers," Telegraph-Herald, May 3, 1959, p. 1

3. Ahmed

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