Turn Back Time

This Sunday marks the end of Daylight Saving Time (DST) for our area (often called daylight savings time). Daylight Saving Time is commonly known as the practice of moving clocks forward one hour in the spring, then back one hour in the fall. It was originally intended to boost energy efficiency and to allow people to have more daylight hours for outdoor work productivity. In reality, there has not been much proof that there is any significant conservation of energy during the summer months due to DST.

Daylight Saving Time lasts for 34 weeks, or about 65% of the year. Interestingly, Daylight Saving Time is not mandated by law. Instead, it is up to each state to choose to adopt it or not. Only Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands do not “spring forward and fall back.” No matter who you ask, there will always be people who support the time change, and those who just wish the time would stay the same all year.

The history of DST goes back a long way. It is believed to have started in Germany around 1916. Since that time, there were many starts and stops of time change procedures in the United States. Through the mid-1960s, the practice was very inconsistent and confusing, since states were not uniform in observing the time changes; cross-country travel was often difficult and disorganized. From 1987-2006, DST lasted from the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October. In 2006, Wyoming senators pushed to extend the timeframe to allow more daylight hours for trick-or-treating on Halloween. Starting in 2007, DST was extended until the first Sunday in November. Regardless of your opinion of the time change, don’t forget to set your clocks back for that extra hour of sleep this Sunday, November 5th.

Sources: Wikipedia, National Geographic and pexels.com.