Daylight saving time, also referred to as daylight saving(s), daylight savings time, daylight time, or summer time is the practice of advancing clocks to make better use of the longer daylight available during summer, so that darkness falls at a later clock time. 

Background

Daylight savings is a practice which dates back to ancient civilizations; these civilizations would adjust daily schedules to the sun. Oftentimes, daylight would be divided into 12 hours regardless of daytime, so that each daylight hour became progressively longer during spring and shorter during autumn. From the 14th century onward, equal length hours supplanted unequal ones and unequal hours are used in few traditional settings. New Zealand entomologist George Hudson is the first who proposed modern DST and Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada, was the first city in the world to enact DST as of 1908. One of the biggest myths in the United States is that the DST was first implemented for the benefit of farmers; in reality, farmers have been one of the strongest lobbying groups against DST since it was first implemented. DST was implemented in the US with the Standard Time Act of 1918, a wartime measure for seven months during World War I in the interest of adding more daylight hours to conserve energy resources. 

Effects

Since the implementation of DST energy usage patterns have greatly changed. Electricity use is greatly affected by geography, climate, and economics, and so the results of a study conducted in one place may not be relevant to another country or climate. Daylight savings time however, would help save 0.3% of electricity out of 44 studies. It was also argued that clock shifts correlate with decreased economic efficiency. In 2000, daylight saving’s effect implemented an estimated loss of $31 billion in a day. DST is also shown to disrupt human circadian rhythms, negatively impacting human health in the process, and that the yearly DST clock shift can increase health risks such as heart attacks and traffic accidents.

Procedure

In the past, there would be twenty one minute and or two hour changes. Now, authorities would usually schedule clock changes to occur at midnight and on the weekends, in order to lessen the impacts on people’s weekday schedules.  

In most countries that observe seasonal daylight saving time, the clock reverts in winter to standard time. The time at which clock changes occur would differ across jurisdictions. Members of the European Union conduct a coordinate change, changing all zones at the same instant. North America  coordination of the clock change differs, where each jurisdiction changes at each local clock. The dates on which clocks would change also varies with location and year, therefore, time differences between regions also vary throughout the year. 

With an extra hour in your day, how will you spend your time? With the weather getting warmer perhaps you can visit museums, local coffee shops, go on hikes, go biking, and or spend that extra hour making good for you and your family.