What's Worse Than Setting Clocks Back an Hour? Permanent Daylight Savings Time (usatoday.com)
- Reference: 0175384635
- News link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/24/11/03/0653235/whats-worse-than-setting-clocks-back-an-hour-permanent-daylight-savings-time
- Source link: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/11/02/daylight-saving-time-state-laws/75914727007/
> Experts say the time changes are detrimental to health and safety, but agree that the answer isn't permanent DST. "The medical and scientific communities are unified ... that permanent standard time is better for human health," said Erik Herzog, a professor of biology and neuroscience at Washington University in St. Louis and the former president of the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms...
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> Springing forward an hour in March is harder on us than falling back in November. The shift in spring is associated with an increase in heart attacks, and car accident rates also go up for a few days after, he said. But the answer isn't permanent daylight saving time, according to Herzog, who said that could be even worse for human health than the twice-yearly changes. By looking at studies of people who live at the easternmost edge of time zones (whose experience is closest to standard time) and people who live at the westernmost edge (more like daylight saving time), scientists can tell that health impacts of earlier sunrises and sunsets are much better. Waking up naturally with the sun is far better for our bodies than having to rely on alarm clocks to wake up in the dark, he said.
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> Herzog said Florida, where [Senator Marco] Rubio has championed the Sunlight Protection Act, is much less impacted by the negative impacts of daylight saving time because it's as far east and south as you can get in the U.S., while people in a state like Minnesota would have much more time in the dark in the morning.
The article also reminds U.S. readers that "No state can adopt permanent daylight saving time unless U.S. Congress passes a law to authorize it first." Nevertheless...
> Oklahoma became the most recent state to pass a measure authorizing permanent daylight saving time, pending Congressional approval, in April. Nineteen other states have passed laws or resolutions to move toward daylight saving time year-round, if Congress were ever to allow it, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures...
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> Only two states and some territories never have to set their clocks forward or backward... [Hawaii and Arizona, except for the Navajo Nation.]
[1] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/11/02/daylight-saving-time-state-laws/75914727007/
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DST_Countries_Map.png
There's a lot of nothing in that article (Score:2)
There are claims like "you can look at people living at one side of a time zone versus the other", but no statement of that actually having happened... or what the methodology might've been, had they done so. Additionally, if daylight saving time itself were problematic, you'd expect a higher death rate during those 7-8 months than you see during the winter... something I'm sure we'd have heard about by now.
I suspect a lot of the "expert" opinions are based on their gut feelings. That's not to dismiss it ou
Re:There's a lot of nothing in that article (Score:4, Interesting)
From the summary:
"By looking at studies of people who live at the easternmost edge of time zones"
That's a statement of actual studies existing. They do, you can find them if you try.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, but the studies don't say changing the clocks is bad.
What they say is that getting up too early is bad.
We'd be better off if the standard workday were 10 to 6 instead of 9 to 5.
Re: There's a lot of nothing in that article (Score:2)
Depends on if you ate a morning or evening person.
Re: There's a lot of nothing in that article (Score:2)
For me I'd prefer permanent daylight savings since when it ended it's dark both going to work and going home. With daylight savings there's at least a little light when going home.
Evidence? Take a look for yourself (Score:1)
So the lead journal is a semi-monthly Sage pub. Journal of Biological Rhythms. Almost everyone of th pubs I breezed over was based on lab animals (mice, fruit flies, ). I see nothing there that backs up these rather outrageous claums. [1]https://journals.sagepub.com/t... [sagepub.com] FWiW.
[1] https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/jbra/39/4
Yearly retards (Score:1)
Ah, the bi-yearly DST switch and imagines fall-out.
The moment when a particularly infantile and idiotic segment of society pops up again, like clockwork [sic], to whine and wail over how DST is Evil and how it makes half of people depressed and the other half non-productive.
Get a life, losers.
Re: (Score:3)
Yup. I laid in bed an extra half hour before deciding to roll out before 5 AM (DST). Have my breakfast, post on /., read the news, clean the dishes, and get ready for the rest of the day. That extra hour allowed me to get things done so I have free time.
Maybe if people went outside rather than sitting on the couch all day this time change wouldn't be so "traumatic". Sunlight resets your body clock, as does movement. Get out of bed and do something.
TFS introduces factual errors not in original (Score:2)
While it is true that Daylight Saving (no ending s) Time exists in part or all of the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Chile (possibly going by another name such as summer time), it is not correct that the time is changing this weekend in all of those places, as TFS implies. In much of Europe, it ended for the year on October 27. For Australia and Chile, not only are the dates of the change different in the latter half of the year (first weekend of October and September, respectively), the direction of
What a stupid thing to say (Score:2)
> Florida [...] is much less impacted by the negative impacts of daylight saving time because it's as far east and south as you can get in the U.S., while people in a state like Minnesota would have much more time in the dark in the morning.
And of course, this has nothing to do with Minnesota being also a lot further UP NORTH than Florida...
I live at 67 degrees north latitude and I can tell you, DST or no DST makes zero difference here: when the official time changes, it's dark in the morning and dark in the afternoon. It's moonlight saving time for us, and all it does is annoy the hell out of everybody who has to readjust their alarm clocks twice a year.
Europe consultation on stopping DST (Score:1)
We Europeans were consulted several years ago and massively voted to abolish DST. 5 years later it is still there.
Applying the decision seems very complicated. How can our politicians achieve anything anything significant if *this* is something complicated.
Incredible stupidity (Score:4, Insightful)
"Time" is a human invention, you can start work, school, businesses, at whatever "time" you want, you absolute fuckwits.
Re:Incredible stupidity (Score:4, Insightful)
That's exactly how I feel when people say, "omg, my children will have to walk to school in the dark!" ... what!? No, you morons, have your kids walk when it's light. People are so fixated on the time on a clock; Businesses, schools, and people can operate at whatever time they want. Heck, schools and businesses further from the equator can even have summer hours and winter hours to align with sunshine. Stop changing the clock.
Re: (Score:3)
..or ... I'm going to loose an hour of sleep
Re: (Score:2)
There is that problem with people working together. They have to agree on a point in space and time (or spacetime) within their rules of cooperation. It's always easy to schedule your own time if you don't have to consider other people. Some people call this Freedom. They totally forget that this type of Freedom is only made possible by other people being on call for 24 hours, 7 days a week. Your freedom is made possible by outsourcing your timing problem to service personnel and first responders. They have
Re: (Score:2)
The difference is various time recording and scheduling can be better presented and cause less confusions, especially when communicating across time zones different from yours.
Re:Incredible stupidity (Score:4, Interesting)
> "Time" is a human invention, you can start work, school, businesses, at whatever "time" you want, you absolute fuckwits.
This. According to TFS logic, the US Military using Zulu time on our own troops is psychological warfare at best and murder at worst.
About the only people seriously affected by it are those waking up to a rooster (who ironically doesn’t use a watch), or those so fragile they are trigged by strong farts and beige crayons.
Besides, we already carved up this planet into two dozen time zones. If Florida wants to abolish DST, then fucking do it. It’s called States Rights. Why are we waiting for Daddy Congress approval here? That’s a grown-ass State in a country spread across 9+ time zones.
If we’re waiting on Congress, we might as well wait on the UN or NATO then. If this is such a health issue, perhaps the WHO should decide. Otherwise, maybe States should grow the fuck up and make a decision that best suits them in their time zone. Hawaii did.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, and the hours that people chose (e.g. 9-5 "business hours") were chosen under standard time - 12 PM being approximately solar noon.
Re: Incredible stupidity (Score:2)
Yup. I get up when I want to. However, most middle to poor people do not have that luxury.
Re: (Score:1)
> "Time" is a human invention, you can start work, school, businesses, at whatever "time" you want, you absolute fuckwits.
Whether we adopt permanent standard time or permanent DST, over time behaviours will adapt to have 'start of day' and 'end of day' where people find them comfortable, just with a different number on the clock. But that does take time for behaviours to adapt and in the meantime it isn't insane to suggest that issues could arise.