Kimbo
10-29-2015, 04:47 PM
Daylight saving time: 5 things to know
Remember: Spring forward and fall back for daylight saving time.
Here's what you need to know about the time change this weekend and the ongoing debate over whether to get rid of the practice.
1. When do you need to change my clocks?
Move your clocks back one hour at 2 a.m. Nov. 1. On the second Sunday in March, move your clocks ahead one hour.
2. What effect does it have on my body?
The effect depends on a person's age, work schedule and how regular their eating and sleeping schedule is, according to David Earnest, a professor of neuroscience and experimental therapeutics at Texas A&M University.
“Our internal clocks have to shift, be it only an hour, and the ability to do that varies from individual to individual,” Earnest said.
He adds that sleep-wake cycles change as people age, so adults 65 or older may struggle more than others with the time change.
“[They] tend to go to bed earlier, wake up in the middle of the night and have sleep interrupted in the middle of the night by frequent waking and difficulty getting back to sleep,” he said.
He notes that a typical person should be able to adjust to the new time change within a day or two. The key is fighting the urge to take advantage of the extra hour.
“When it falls on the weekend, sometimes people think they get to sleep in an hour later, and they decide to stay up two, three hours later,” he said. “When you celebrate the time change and the extra hour, you overshoot, and irregularity adds to the problem.”
3. Which states have ditched the time change?
Arizona and Hawaii are currently the only two states that don't observe daylight saving time. After daylight saving time, parts of Arizona will match up with Mountain Time instead of Pacific Time. U.S. territories Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas also do not observe daylight saving time.
Other states have tried to pass bills that would end daylight saving time and failed. Most recently, the Utah state legislature rejected a bill that would have ended it and another hasn't made it out of the House Rule committee, KSTU-TV reported.
Indiana was once like Arizona, but in 2005 the state joined daylight saving time. Prior to that year, some counties in the state observed the time change but most didn't.
4. When was daylight saving time signed into law?
In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Uniform Time Act into law. The U.S. Dept. of Transportation is the keeper of daylight saving time.
5. Why does it exist?
One argument for daylight saving time is that fewer accidents happen during daylight hours, so extending morning (in winter) and evening (in summer) daylight results in a slight reduction in automobile accidents.
The idea behind daylight saving time is to take advantage of daylight hours and save energy. According to a 2008 Dept. of Energy study, U.S. electricity use was decreased by 0.5% for each day of the extended daylight saving time, resulting in a savings of 0.03% for the year as a whole, King-TV reports.
The savings are small in percentage terms, but in absolute terms, they added up to 1.3 billion kilowatt-hours, enough to power about 122,000 average U.S. homes for a year. These savings come in the summer months of daylight saving time, not the Standard Time months we are about to enter.
The time change is rooted in an agricultural society, according to Earnest. He said the idea of utilizing daylight was in many ways meant to provide more time to work in the fields.
Remember: Spring forward and fall back for daylight saving time.
Here's what you need to know about the time change this weekend and the ongoing debate over whether to get rid of the practice.
1. When do you need to change my clocks?
Move your clocks back one hour at 2 a.m. Nov. 1. On the second Sunday in March, move your clocks ahead one hour.
2. What effect does it have on my body?
The effect depends on a person's age, work schedule and how regular their eating and sleeping schedule is, according to David Earnest, a professor of neuroscience and experimental therapeutics at Texas A&M University.
“Our internal clocks have to shift, be it only an hour, and the ability to do that varies from individual to individual,” Earnest said.
He adds that sleep-wake cycles change as people age, so adults 65 or older may struggle more than others with the time change.
“[They] tend to go to bed earlier, wake up in the middle of the night and have sleep interrupted in the middle of the night by frequent waking and difficulty getting back to sleep,” he said.
He notes that a typical person should be able to adjust to the new time change within a day or two. The key is fighting the urge to take advantage of the extra hour.
“When it falls on the weekend, sometimes people think they get to sleep in an hour later, and they decide to stay up two, three hours later,” he said. “When you celebrate the time change and the extra hour, you overshoot, and irregularity adds to the problem.”
3. Which states have ditched the time change?
Arizona and Hawaii are currently the only two states that don't observe daylight saving time. After daylight saving time, parts of Arizona will match up with Mountain Time instead of Pacific Time. U.S. territories Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas also do not observe daylight saving time.
Other states have tried to pass bills that would end daylight saving time and failed. Most recently, the Utah state legislature rejected a bill that would have ended it and another hasn't made it out of the House Rule committee, KSTU-TV reported.
Indiana was once like Arizona, but in 2005 the state joined daylight saving time. Prior to that year, some counties in the state observed the time change but most didn't.
4. When was daylight saving time signed into law?
In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Uniform Time Act into law. The U.S. Dept. of Transportation is the keeper of daylight saving time.
5. Why does it exist?
One argument for daylight saving time is that fewer accidents happen during daylight hours, so extending morning (in winter) and evening (in summer) daylight results in a slight reduction in automobile accidents.
The idea behind daylight saving time is to take advantage of daylight hours and save energy. According to a 2008 Dept. of Energy study, U.S. electricity use was decreased by 0.5% for each day of the extended daylight saving time, resulting in a savings of 0.03% for the year as a whole, King-TV reports.
The savings are small in percentage terms, but in absolute terms, they added up to 1.3 billion kilowatt-hours, enough to power about 122,000 average U.S. homes for a year. These savings come in the summer months of daylight saving time, not the Standard Time months we are about to enter.
The time change is rooted in an agricultural society, according to Earnest. He said the idea of utilizing daylight was in many ways meant to provide more time to work in the fields.
