Discussion on Daylight Saving Time: Is It Time for Its Abolition?
In recent years, there has been an active movement to abolish daylight saving time (DST) or stop the twice-yearly clock changes, with the United States and the European Union leading the charge.
The biannual clock changes have long been considered tedious and disruptive to people’s sleep patterns and daily rhythms. In the U.S., Congress has been considering legislation to end the practice, with broad public and some political support due to the disruption caused by changing clocks twice a year.
In the EU, a 2019 Parliament vote aimed to end clock changes by 2021, but practical issues and recent geopolitical events have stalled this effort. The EU is even reconsidering whether to stick with DST or abolish it.
Arguments for abolishing DST or clock changes:
Research indicates that DST may not save energy as originally intended, with conflicting evidence about its actual benefits. The inconvenience and potential health risks from sudden shifts in time are widely criticized.
Arguments against abolishing DST or keeping clock changes:
Some experts still see advantages in DST, perhaps related to daylight exposure in the evenings, though these benefits are less discussed. Practical difficulties in coordinating time zones and implementing permanent changes present challenges, particularly in the EU where multiple countries and time zones are involved.
The question remains whether to stay permanently on standard time or permanent daylight time, with implications for morning vs. evening light.
Overall, while there is momentum toward ending the clock changes or abolishing DST, legislative and practical challenges remain unresolved, and different regions are at different stages in this process.
The health risks associated with DST have been brought to the forefront of the debate, with studies linking it to real health risks such as heart disease, depression, and increased rates of heart attacks and strokes. Thousands of people responded to a recent poll by Elon Musk on Twitter, reigniting the debate over whether DST is outdated.
In 2022, the U.S. Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act, which would have made daylight saving time permanent, but it never made it through the House. The modern version of daylight saving time took hold during World War I to conserve fuel and has stuck around, with tweaks along the way, mainly for energy savings. However, studies show that daylight saving time doesn't actually save much energy in today's world, due to factors like LED lighting and 24/7 businesses.
Many countries have ditched the practice of daylight saving time, including Japan, China, and India. The idea of shifting our schedules with the seasons was first proposed by a New Zealand entomologist named George Hudson in 1895, who suggested a two-hour time change to the Wellington Philosophical Society, hoping it would give people more evening light.
As the debate continues, it is clear that the traditional practice of changing clocks twice a year has far-reaching implications for our health, productivity, and energy usage. Whether the U.S. and EU will take the next step in ending DST remains to be seen.
- The health-and-wellness concerns, such as heart disease and depression, linked to daylight saving time (DST) have gained prominence in the ongoing debate.
- In the realm of science, studies suggest that energy savings from DST are minimal in today's world due to advancements like LED lighting and 24/7 businesses.
- The decor and ambiance of gardens may potentially benefit from more evening daylight, but this is less often discussed compared to the practical challenges surrounding the abolition of DST.
