On Sunday, November 3, most Americans experienced an extra hour of sleep. This occurs due to the clock reset that happens at the end of daylight savings. During the winter, the sun begins to set earlier so daylight savings ends in the winter. This helps prepare Americans for the changes that occur during the winter time. Daylight savings occur to help Americans adjust to increased daylight during the morning hours and less daylight hours at night.
Daylight savings was established in 1918 by the Standard Time Act. The practice was intended to extend daylight hours during the summertime by pushing off the sunset by an hour. This explains why the sky is sunny during the summer. Daylight savings starts on March 9, when the clock springs forward one hour, effectively removing an hour from the clock. Doing so adds daylight hours to the day and pushes sunset further back in the day, making your days brighter and replenished with more sun.
When daylight savings was first passed, it was widely contested (and it still is). However, it was reenacted during the early days of World War II. After, the matter became varied from state to state until the Uniform Time Act in 1966, which standardized the dates on which daylight savings occurred but allowed exemptions if states or localities did not want to participate. The dates have changed over the years, but since 2007 the dates have remained the same with early March being the beginning of daylight savings and early November being the end. Certain states, such as Hawaii and Arizona, do not practice daylight savings. Particular climates of these states, such as Arizona being too hot and sunny, make it so that they don’t participate in daylight savings time.
A common misconception among many is that the U.S. is the only country that observes daylight saving time. This is not the case. Many countries have their version of daylight savings time. In the United Kingdom, daylight savings time starts on the last Sunday of March and ends on the last Sunday of October. In the Northern Hemisphere, most of the countries that observe some version of daylight savings are in North America or Europe. Meanwhile, below the equator in the Southern Hemisphere, the seasons are swapped, meaning their daylight savings is reversed from ours. For example, Australia starts daylight savings on the first Sunday of October and ends on the first Sunday of April. This is the opposite of how our daylight saving works.
Daylight savings is a topic most Americans feel very split about and some dread. It is an interesting but controversial system that has led to experiments by governments around the world. It is important to develop an understanding of what it’s trying to achieve and its history.
