With the switch back to standard time after nearly eight months of daylight saving, we gained an extra hour of sleep yesterday morning. But is that worth the disruption in sleep schedules, multiple health adversities and the confusion we experience every March and November?
While various theories surround the birth of its concept, daylight saving time was first officially implemented during World War I in an effort to conserve energy (The Standard Time Act on March 15, 1918). But this proves irrelevant today — we use energy in many different ways, such as transportation and heat, that lighting up dark mornings and evenings constitutes a very small portion. We don’t rely on natural light as much.
While seemingly minimal, a one-hour change can be disrupting at great levels. According to Northwestern Medicine, research found that during the week after the shift to DST, there was a rise in heart attack risks, injuries and strokes. An hour change can greatly affect our circadian rhythms, which is regulated by light. With proven threats to our health, why risk it?
Further into the subject of health, anyone who has experienced jet lag knows how much time alterations can mess up our natural sleep schedules. Especially for populations that have irremovable plans during the day such as school or work, a lost hour of sleep is detrimental in many ways, like focus levels and performance. As a high school student, I regularly experience the lack of sleep among myself and my peers — losing another hour, when we are already sleep-deprived, all for a reason irrelevant to modern-day society, is groundless.
This is not to mention the confusion that accompanies having to adjust our clocks. According to Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 63% of Americans prefer to eliminate DST while 55% experience tiredness following the switch. Every March and November, I get confused as to which way I need to switch my clocks; the event only comes twice a year, so the habit never establishes. If the initial purpose of DST is not applicable anymore, why should we undergo unnecessary effort and confusion?
In March of 2023, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio reintroduced the Sunshine Protection Act, which eliminates the time changes and makes DST permanent. The legislation unanimously passed the U.S. Senate in 2022, but its progression remains stagnant as it awaits approval from the House. While numerous attempts are made at both the national and state levels, the status of DST remains non-uniform across the nation. Currently, Arizona and Hawaii are the only U.S. states that disregard DST and observe no time change year-round. Other states should reciprocate this and make time consistent across the nation.
While DST does give us longer daylight hours, research has shown that this actually increases energy consumption in some areas through an increased use of air conditioning. Longer daylight means people will likely spend more time outside, resulting in greater carbon emissions from transportation vehicles. In such cases, DST directly defeats its foremost purpose of saving energy.
When legislation passed more than a century ago has adverse effects on Americans, it urgently warrants re-examination. The reasoning behind DST has become awfully vague and non-applicable and seems like an upheld tradition instead of the benefit to society it once was. Considering the shortcomings that outweigh the benefits that hardly exist, eliminating the system of DST should not even be a question: the answer is obvious. It’s time we end DST.
