As most people no doubt noticed given that they were robbed of an hour of sleep, Sunday marked the beginning of Daylight Saving Time in the United States, Canada, and several other countries and territories in North America. For morning people, Daylight Saving is a drag, depriving them of an hour of tranquil morning light. But for others, “spring forward” brings with it the promise of long, languid afternoons and warmer weather.
Like millions of other Americans who have slogged through an uncomfortably cold winter, I’m looking forward to the change of season. But Daylight Saving Time is an annual tradition whose time has passed. In contemporary society, it’s not only unnecessary: It’s also wasteful, cruel, and dangerous. And it’s long past time to bid it goodbye.
The US went to summer DST after the war. (It tried year-round DST at the peak of the oil embargo of 1970s.) Then sky-rocketing oil prices pushed the US to extend DST by four-weeks in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which took effect in 2007.
The idea behind daylight savings time is to cut back on residential electricity use, which is heaviest at night. By moving the clocks forward in the spring, human activity would start and end earlier, and when people return to their still-sunny houses after work, they wouldn’t need to turn on the lights until an hour later than normal. The result? Energy savings.
When will Daylight Saving Time change end?
Sunday, November 1, 2015 Daylight Saving Time change will end at 2 a.m. At that time, people in the USA will adjust their clocks backwards one hour.
5 Things to Know About Daylight Savings Time Change
- “Daylight Saving Time” (singular), not “Daylight Savings Time” (plural) is the actual correct term, though most of us mistakenly say the plural form of the time change.
- Daylight Saving Time changed in 2007 in the United States so that it now begins on the second Sunday in March and then the time change ends on the first Sunday in November.
- Daylight Saving Time change was first conceived of by Benjamin Franklin in the late 18th century.
- The UK joined the United States in observing Daylight Saving Time change in the early 20th Century, during World War I
- Because there is no federal law concerning Daylight Saving Time, states are not required to observe it. Hawaii and most of Arizona do not follow DLS.
