Edhat Staff
By edhat staff
We’re back to that time of year again. The holidays are looming, the air is getting a little cooler, pumpkin spice is flavored with every meal and beverage, and now we’re ready to wake up to sunlight and drive home in the dark.
At 2:00 a.m. Sunday, the clocks will “fall back” one hour to standard time, meaning we all get an extra hour of sleep. Unless you’re a farmer who works on the sun-up and sun-down schedule, then it’s all the same for you.
In Santa Barbara, the sun will rise at 6:24 a.m. and set at 5:01 p.m. on Monday for about 10.5 hours of sunlight. Here are some fast facts about this time of year
1. IT’S DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME, NOT DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME
A common linguistic misstep that happens to all of us, but drop that “s” from Saving and you’ve got it right.
2. WHAT’S THE POINT OF “SAVING” DAYLIGHT HOURS?
It started during World War I in the U.S. as an attempt to conserve energy. The theory was that shifting the number of daylight hours into the evening, the fewer time lights would need to be on, thus “saving” electricity.
3. DOES IT REALLY WORK TO SAVE ELECTRICITY?
Not really. Most analysts and studies are mixed, but they all tend to agree that a definite yes or no is unfounded. It may reduce light/electricity usage, but gas and heating use could increase, which pretty much cancels one another out.
4. IS DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME DANGEROUS?
Some would say yes. Our internal/biological clocks are not fans of getting messed with, so people with pretty solid sleep schedules are disrupted and have a hard time adjusting. This could lead to drowsiness and potential mental dullness. Some studies suggest that traffic accidents increase after we spring forward, when losing one hour of sleep.
During the energy crunch of the 1970s they started daylight saving in the winter to (supposedly save energy) and the problem was kids who walked or rode bikes to school were doing it in the dark, deemed unsafe. During WWII there was daylight saving and war time (daylight) saving, hence, a 2 hour difference. Blackouts were ordered so 2 extra hours of light helped, especially for cars (had to drive with lights off). I have no idea if it was just in CA but after Ellwood was bombed there was a lot of paranoia of possibly other attacks on the coast so blackouts were especially necessary; also caused the internment of Japanese residents in CA.
This Time Change nonsense plays Hell with our circadian rhythms. I loathe Time Change. You know how it got started? In case you didn’t read the above: It was a concept first utilized by Germany in 1916. Talk about archaic and unnecessary. Let the World stop w/ the Daylight Saving. If we knock it off now, we’ll be right in step with Hawaii and Arizona, Rex. I call that a good beginning. CA shall lead, the rest shall follow.
I don’t think this works how you think it does
Much love to whoever wrote this article for reiterating SAVING time… a bit of me dies every time I hear somebody say daylight savings time
If we foolishly vote to end Daylight Saving Time, California will be out of step with the rest of the country for many months out of the year. It just isn’t worth it.