Springing forward on March 9, only to fall back Nov. 2 this year, daylight savings is a transition in time designed to get more out of the day. While lasting for different durations in different countries, daylight savings moves the clocks ahead one hour during the summer months. For the winter months, Standard Time, or the local time when daylight savings is not in use, is in effect. Despite the fact that most countries do not follow daylight savings, the U.S. does. At least for now.
President Donald Trump proposed to end daylight savings, a decision that would mean fewer hours in summer afternoons in sacrifice for early morning darkness. However, the daylight savings removal may come with health benefits. According to Healthline, the transition to daylight savings time can temporarily throw off sleep schedules, resulting in reduced productivity and attentiveness which could potentially cause heart-related problems. Despite the potential health problems associated, the transition into daylight savings time and the effects of early sunrises can be conquered.
“We’ve mechanized our time keeping so much I don’t think sunrise and sunset has that big an impact,” Chemistry Teacher Kenneth Owens said.
Since the beginning of human civilization, people have relied on the sun to dictate when we wake up and sleep, otherwise known as a circadian rhythm. So, naturally, we’ve followed a type of daylight savings as the times the sun stays in the sky changes throughout the year. But, with the removal of daylight savings, our standardized times won’t follow the changes in the sun’s movement.
“I think it will throw people off if they can’t keep the rooms dark enough to sleep in in the summer when the sun’s coming up as early as it would if we weren’t on daylight savings,” Owens said. “It might impact summertime activities when the sun goes down an hour earlier and you’re not able to see at 8:30 p.m. like you can at this point in the year.”
While the health benefits of removing daylight savings hang in the balance, one problem that would arise from the removal is the decreased amount of daylight later in the evening. Less daylight could affect events such as sports games that would have to use artificial lights earlier than before. The loss of the extra hour of daylight can also limit peoples’ schedules for the day.
“During the summer, if you’re doing activities later at night you have a little bit more daylight to use,” Sophomore Brendon Lin said. “Whenever you get that extra hour of daylight, you can schedule your events to be a little later and it’s a lot more flexible.”
While daylight savings comes with health risks, the extra hour for activities will be missed. While the idea has been tossed around, the call has not been made yet. As of now, the early morning sunrise and extra summertime evening hour can still be expected.
