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.
Read more about Daylight Saving Time:
When Is Daylight Saving Time 2018? Here's Everything You Need to Know About 'Fall
Daylight Saving Time By Country
Why do we have daylight saving time? 100 years of history
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