Will 2024 be the last time we change time? Here’s what experts say about the future of Daylight Saving Time

This is the time of year when for most USA and Canada this weekend clocks are moved back an hour on Sunday as part of Autumn summer time (clocks move forward every March) and people enjoy an extra hour of sleep.

This tradition of daylight saving time occurs in USA and Canada every second Sunday in March and first Sunday in November in an effort to take advantage of the extended hours of sunlight as a means of saving energy as well as a way to reduce crime and traffic accidents. However, in recent years, voices of dissent have been growing steadily, declaring that these changes twice a year cause harm to human health that outweighs any benefits.

However, not all US citizens will get an extra hour of sleep when Daylight Saving Time (DST) starts this Sunday as residents of… Hawaii, most of Arizona, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam and American Samoa. do not participate in the initiative.

Daylight saving time is primarily used in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Australia and New Zealand. Egypt is the only African country and Chile is the only South American country to use daylight saving time. Daylight saving time is not used in any Asian country. Many European countries eventually also refused to participate. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Iceland, Russia and Turkey do not participate in the DST initiative.

The future of daylight saving time?

Calls against the twice-yearly change have increased in recent years, and more and more contemporary research is beginning to question its effectiveness, with calls for rule out a permanent increase in daylight saving time, arguing that the disadvantages outweigh any positives.

In addition to the impact of changing sleep patterns, which may affect some people more than others, which may also affect mental well-being as it does for some, Disturbed sleep can lead to mood disorders such as depression and anxiety.

The researchers also found that living spaces energy consumption has really increased by about one percent, and they said that while less lighting is needed, longer summer evenings have caused a surge in AC use in households across the country.

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Despite growing calls to end Daylight Saving Time, it appears lawmakers won’t immediately call for an end to the twice-yearly ritual. Frank PalloneNew Jersey Democrat and the former chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee said: “We don’t want to make hasty changes and then undo them a few years later after public opinion turns against them – which is exactly what happened in the early 1970s,” Pallone said . .