ICMS, Inc - Now You Know: November 2018

Daylight Saving Time 2018: Are you ready to set your clock time backward by one hour on Sunday, November 4th?

ICMS, Inc Reports

By Tom Okure, Ph.D

In the United States, Daylight saving time ends this Sunday, November 4 at 2:00 a.m. At that time, all our clocks are supposed to be reset back (that is fall back) to 1 a.m. We return back to Standard Time until the second Sunday on March 11, 2019 when at 2 a.m. we will again springs forward our clocks to 3 a.m.

The idea of moving the clock time forward by one hour in the spring and back by an hour in the fall was first suggested by Benjamin Franklin in his essay published in the Journal de Paris on April 1784. The article was entitled "An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light."

Daylight saving time is practiced globally in many countries. The record shows that about 70 countries currently observe Daylight saving time. In the United States, about 48 states observe Daylight savings time with the exception of Hawaii, most of Arizona, and U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam do not. Notice that the states not observing Daylight savings times are in hot climate regions! Arizona has toyed with the idea of daylight saving time at various occasions in the past. It briefly embraced the idea during both world wars as a fuel saving measure. Today only the state's northeastern region (Navajo Nation) continues to observe it.

In the United States, the observation of Daylight saving time first started during World War 1 as a wartime power saving measure to curb coal energy usage in the spring of 1918. The idea was implemented to extend daytime by adjusting clocks so less power would be needed for light. It was expected to be a temporary wartime measure or public policy. The practice was supposed to end later that year, but was liked and continued by many regions in the country until the U.S. Congress recognized it and decided to pass the Uniform Time Act in 1966 and the federal government implemented the measure again. Another related public policy measure, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended Daylight Saving Time by an extra four weeks annually.

Today, many people question the relevance of the Daylight Saving Time measure. In the United States, the States decide whether to participate or not. As noted earlier, most states like the idea with the exception of Hawaii and most of Arizona.

Should Daylight Saving Time be continued as a public policy?

Nowadays, the notion of springing forward and falling back has become a bit more controversial, partly because it cannot be completely justified as really saving energy.

Nevertheless, advocates of Daylight Saving Time ague that it saves energy. Over the eight months duration when it is implemented annually in the U.S. supporters say we use less power because we get an hour more of sunlight in the evenings. Empirical studies also suggest that people spend more time outside when it is lighter than darker and also tend to spend more money, which it is argued is good for the economy. So when you hear from a Daylight saving time policy change cynic, always ponder on the source and context of the septic. If the person is from a more northerly part of the U.S or the world with long winters, they may be inclined to like saving daylight more. Some experts have also argued that the extension of daylight helps to reduce crime as there are less crimes committed during lighter than darker periods of the day.

Whatever your point of view on Daylight Savings time, remember that this global practice is here to stay and is celebrating 100 years since its inception. So remember to set all your clocks that are not on a smart device like your mobile (cell) phone back one hour before you go to sleep on Saturday night, and get ready to face challenges changing the time on your oven and microwave display because you are not technologically savvy and unable to figure out how to do it without the instruction manual.

Saturday, November 3, 2018

100 Years of Observing Daylight Saving Time