Daylight Savings Time, Explained

The Marks and Bork podcast is now about any subject. The host discusses Daylight Savings Time, its origins, and why some people want to abolish it. Benjamin Franklin proposed the idea in 1784, but it was not taken seriously. It was first implemented in Germany and Austria-Hungary during World War I to save fuel. The US enacted it temporarily during World War II and standardized it in 1966. DST is controversial due to health effects, minimal energy savings, and economic losses. Some people find it inconvenient and unnecessary. Many want to abolish it. The host doesn't have a strong opinion but finds it funny how people get confused about it every year. So, this podcast is now officially a free-for-all, subject-wise, totally amorphous, and it can be about anything I want. I guess that's the beauty of now calling it the Marks and Bork podcast. In light of that, in that spirit, I thought I'd do a show on Pacific, sorry, Daylight Savings Time, because it's coming up tomorrow morning, and a lot of people are really confused about it. Why we do it, where it originated, if it's still happening, there was a rumor that it was going to be canceled. I'm not even sure how that would happen, but I guess that has to happen through legislation. So let's just take a brief look at what Daylight Savings Time is. Obviously, this isn't something I just knew, I just did some research on it, but basically, Daylight Savings Time, the DST, has its roots in the idea of making better use of daylight during the longer days of spring and summer. It was first formally proposed in 1784 by Benjamin Franklin, who suggested that Parisians could save candles by waking up earlier in the morning to use natural light. This, however, was just a humorous suggestion. It wasn't really a serious proposal. The modern concept of Daylight Savings Time was first put into practice in 1916 in Germany and Austria-Hungary during World War I as a way to conserve fuel needed for war efforts. The idea being, we use less energy if we're just awake during the sunlight hours, or have more sunlight during the awake hours, so we don't have to rely so much on electricity. Many of the European countries followed suit, and in 1918, the United States enacted a temporary daylight savings measure, though it was actually repealed after the war. DST returned in the U.S. during World War II under Roosevelt, who established wartime from 1942 to 1945. After World War II, the use of DST was inconsistent in the U.S. States and localities could choose to observe it or not. This then changed in 1966 with the Uniform Time Act, which standardized the beginning and end of DST across the country. The states did have the option to opt out. Adjustments to it continued, notably in 2005 with the Energy Policy Act, which extended DST to its current dates. The second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November. Today, DST remains a subject of debate and controversy with argument about energy savings, health impacts, and economic effects. Some states and countries have actually chosen to abolish DST altogether, while others continue to observe it. I live in California, and here we are still observing it. There are lots of people who live in California who are really against it. Their arguments range from health concerns to limited benefits in our modern world. Actually there's a study that was done, and it said, now I'm trying to find it, it was increase in traffic accidents, about 6% increase in traffic accidents and emergency room visits right after DST is initiated every single year. Which, yeah, I mean, that sounds fairly significant. Many studies link DST changes, especially the spring shift, so the spring forward, to negative health effects. The abrupt one hour loss of sleep in spring can disrupt circadian rhythms, leading to increased rates of heart attacks, strokes, and accidents. This disruption can also affect mental health and can lead to sleep deprivation and stress, especially for children and those with sleep disorders. Also, there's controversy around how much energy it actually saves. DST was, as I said, originally implemented to conserve energy by extending daylight hours. However, with modern lighting, heating, and cooling systems, energy saving benefits are minimal. Studies in some regions show no significant reduction in energy consumption due to DST, leading people to question its relevance. There's also some controversy around it due to economic and productivity losses. The time change can reduce productivity in workplaces due to disrupted sleep patterns. Adjusting costs affects various industries, like airlines, logistics, tech. That must reconfigure their schedules and systems, leading to potential economic losses. Many people define DST inconvenient and unnecessary. Surveys in some regions show that significant portions of the population prefer staying on a single year-round time to avoid the hassle of adjusting clocks twice a year. There's also darker mornings, especially in the spring shift, which can pose safety risks for school children and morning commuters and increase the likelihood of traffic accidents. We've gotten to a point where many countries and regions and states really want to abolish DST. I think Ryan Reynolds even has a ... I think it's, am I joking, but it's not real, website dedicated to eliminating DST. I personally find it very hard to have a strong opinion on something like DST. I'm not sure why. I don't know. I have no ... I mean, yes, it is. It makes sense to me to take advantage of more daylight. The original energy-saving idea was well-intentioned. It is somewhat disruptive, not too much. I don't know. I don't have a strong opinion. I just think it's kind of funny that every year it comes around and people are like, wait, wait, what is it? Wait, oh my God, daylight savings. This is going to mess up my whole schedule and so many people are still so confused by where it came from and why we do it. Anyway, thought I would do a quick little episode on it. Enjoy your extra hour of sleep tomorrow morning, I think. That's another thing that always gets me because I'm really bad at math and like, is that an extra hour or are we getting an hour less? Anyway, yeah, I think it's an extra hour. Anyway, sleep well. Good night.